Chua Chu Kang Town Council and the Housing Development Board (HDB) have provided temporary motorcycle lots on Deck 7A of 436 Multi-Storey Car Park (MSCP) in West Edge at Bukit Batok, spanning across all its vehicular parking area to allow 50 motorcycles to park there, after receiving complaints from the residents.
Earlier on 29 May, TOC reported on the complaints about the shortage of motorcycle lots in 436 MSCP penned by residents of West Edge. They claimed that most of the parking spaces were occupied with “Malaysian registered bikes”, which are owned by AETOS officers.
In fact, a number of motorcycles were seen squeezing between the lots, while some were parked outside of the box as the motorcycle lots were all full.
This is likely due to some Singapore companies having to make urgent arrangements for their Malaysian employees after the Malaysian government imposed a nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) and closed its borders to contain the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The issue of insufficient motorcycle lots for existing residents has been ongoing for about two weeks now. One resident even brought up the issue to the HDB and enforcement officer but was advised by a warden to park at the car lot instead.
However, under rule 10(1) of Parking Places Rules, it is an offence to park in a parking place not designated for the use thereof, which carries the same penalty of not parking within the lot.
Chua Chu Kang Town Council has yet to respond to TOC’s media queries, but a resident informed that the town council had reacted to the complaints two days after the report was published.
The email was sent alongside a screenshot of an update posted by a private Facebook group West Edge & West Rock Neighbours. It stated that the HDB and Chua Chu Kang Town Council have provided temporary lots for motorcycles on Deck 7a in the 436 MSCP, allowing more than 50 bikes to park at the vehicular parking lots.
“HDB/TC has created temporary motorcycle lots on Deck 7A, spanning across the entire vehicular parking area, enabling more than 50 bikes to be parked there comfortably,” it said.
The email added that “foreign bike owners” have been informed via Whatsapp groups to park their motorcycles in the white lots or at the upper deck of temporary motorcycle lots. A few signages have also been put up on the walls to direct motorcyclists to the vacant motorcycle lots.
“We want to thank HDB and CCK Town Council for the swift implementation of the temporary lots on Deck 7a, as well as the staff of Hong Kah North Constituency Office for making it happen,” it remarked.
While the situation has improved drastically, a resident whom TOC spoke to said that he still struggles to find a parking space with his season parking as some of the Malaysian-registered bikes are being parked at the red lots of the MSCP.
About 50 bikes were spotted parking on the seventh floor of the MSCP while the existing motorcycle lots were already occupied. This shows the extent of the existing problem prior to the implementation of temporary bike lots.
However, temporary bike lots are only available in 436 MSCP and none in 439 MSCP as the problem is largely due to the sudden influx of Malaysian employees who are housed at rental block 435a.
Additionally, there are no signs of over-parking when TOC visited the MSCP, though it would have been an issue prior to the temporary measures.