Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) member Bryan Lim took to his Facebook on Sunday (13 Dec) to highlight a ponding issue that has plagued a neighbourhood in Woodlands for some years.
According to Mr Lim, residents staying at 571A Champions Court have voiced their concerns to SDP’s Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC team regarding a ponding issue that has remained unresolved since the flat was built more than seven years ago.
“Over the past few months, we have received a lot of feedback on poor drainage issues in this particular precinct. When it rains, water from the down pipe gushes down at such a quick pace that it splatters outside of the drains,” he wrote.
What’s more, Mr Lim noted that the plants on the ground floor of the flat are often flooded after a downpour, while some of them are concealed from direct sunlight due to the design of the building.
“The plants can only stomach so much water so the excess overflows to the sides of the walkaways – making them muddy & slippery at times,” he explained.
Mr Lim also stated that the vegetation patches have been barren and mouldy after seven long years of neglect.
“The ponding gets worse during the rainy season & residents expressed concerns that this could be a potential breeding ground for mosquitos. In fact, this precinct was designated a red zone for the high number of dengue fever cases in the early part of this year,” he added.
Mr Lim went on to say that a resident had shared that he was down with high fever for three days back in March, and his whole family was worried that he may have had contracted the coronavirus. However, it was just a case of dengue fever.
“It was no relief either when he was later diagnosed with dengue fever since more people in Singapore had died from it than COVID-19 thus far,” he asserted, adding that the magnitude of this seemingly trivial matter cannot be underestimated.
Mr Lim then revealed that he had spoken about this ponding issue with fellow SDP member Damanhuri Bin Abas after their house visits last week.
He said that both of them “felt strongly” that they need to highlight the worrisome problem to the Marsiling-Yew Tee Town Council, especially since Singapore is right smack in the middle of a monsoon season.
Mr Lim remarked, “Anyone could have just walked past this without understanding the underlying implications.”
Read: Resident Questions Why Nothing Has Been Done To Address 10-Year Flooding Issue At Joo Seng Despite PUB Having The Means | PUB To Finally Take Action On Decade-Long Flooding Issue At Joo Seng