BUKIT BAN KEE FIRE VICTIMS (Assistance in respect of rental of Housing Board flats)

Mr Low Por Tuck asked the Minister for National Development whether he is aware that certain Bukit Ban Kee fire victims are unable to pay for 2 and 3-room Housing Board fiats, and what steps he intends to take to assist them.

Mr Tan Kia Gan: Sir, 290 out of the 358 families registered by the Social Welfare Department have indicated that they require Housing Board accommodation. Of these 290 families, 202 families have already been allotted accommodation by the Housing Board. To assist them, all the victims were eligible to receive a rent subsidy from Government funds of $7 per person up to a maximum of $35 per family per month for three months.

As a further measure of assistance, the Housing Board relaxed its rules and allowed some families on their request to share three-room flats. Twenty-seven families have been transferred to cheaper fiats on their request. Other families who have made similar requests for transfers will have their cases considered when the one-room flats at Bukit Ho Swee are ready for occupation sometime at the end of July.