Ramps in Older HDB Estates for Elderly and Disabled Residents

Mr Desmond Lee asked the Minister for National Development whether the HDB will consider piloting a scheme to install ramps, at subsidised cost, for elderly and disabled residents who have mobility difficulties so that they can easily move up the steps to their homes in older HDB estates.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, HDB flats with steps at the entrances were designed and built in the 1970s and 1980s. The design was adopted to enhance the privacy of residents by limiting the view of the interior of the flats from the common corridors.

HDB has explored on the feasibility of replacing the steps with permanent ramps to facilitate access by the elderly and disabled residents. Unfortunately, in most instances, such ramp solutions are not feasible due to the lack of space along the corridors and the need to comply with fire safety requirements.

Nevertheless, flat owners who would like to install a ramp at their own cost can submit a request to the relevant Town Council for removable ramps bought from the market, or to HDB and the Town Council for custom-made, permanent ramps. Such requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure that they do not cause disamenities to their neighbours.

Residents can contact the HDB for assistance or information on installing removable ramps. The HDB will be glad to advise them on the types of ramps available in the market that are suitable for their use. HDB itself is also conducting research in this area and hopes to be able to develop cost-effective solutions for such flats in future.

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Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Moulmein-Kallang): Sir, I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary if HDB will consider building the ramps for my residents in Rochor Centre because the corridors are actually wide enough and they will not be relocating until 2016.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: We will ask HDB to study further the request of Ms Denise Phua.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Could I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, for the flats that are involved, what is the profile of such flats? Will HDB consider subsidising such ramps for flats where the residents do not have access to lift on every landing?

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, at this point in time, HDB is reviewing the profile of residents in those blocks. We recognise that it is not easy and it is quite costly at this point in time. HDB will facilitate installing these removable ramps. For residents who have difficulties, we will look at it on a case-by-case basis.

Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef: Can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary if it is possible to consider building the ramps for flats which are located on the ground floor? These are the older flats, which we still have many of them in Singapore.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, as mentioned, HDB is working with industry partners to customise more affordable solutions to suit the various configurations of these flats, whether it is on the ground floor or along the common corridors, or flats with steps at the entrances. At present, we are exploring possible cost-effective solutions. After we have finalised the plans, we will carry out some pilot implementation to assess its effectiveness. Depending on the receptiveness of the solutions by the residents, we will take it up from there.

Miss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Would HDB also consider building such facilities or ramps into the BTO scheme, especially BTO flats that are more popular with the elderly population? Would it be more cost-effective that way than to implement make-up measures later?

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, these flats were all built in the 1970s and 1980s. The current new flats and BTO flats are all with universal designs. Universal designs refer to flats that are designed with "barrier-free" access.

Mr Speaker: Mr Desmond Lee, last question.

Mr Desmond Lee (Jurong): Can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what is the timeframe for the implementation of such a pilot project?

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, as regards the timeframe, HDB is exploring and looking at the various options. It is looking at the feasibility of bringing down the cost because it is quite high. It is hard to make ramps permanent, as it depends on the configuration of the flat. But we will continue to look at those solutions and update Members when we have arrived at the solutions.

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