Upgrading Programme to Replace Lifts in HDB Estates

14 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB will consider implementing a new upgrading programme to replace old lifts in HDB estates that are experiencing frequent breakdowns.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Lawrence Wong): Mdm Speaker, Town Councils (TCs) have the statutory responsibility to carry out the maintenance and cyclical replacement of lifts in HDB estates and are already doing so. So, the duty of the TCs includes the replacement of lifts when they are due, as well as the monitoring and cyclical maintenance to ensure serviceability and to prevent frequent lift breakdowns.

Nevertheless, since 2001, the Government has spent $5 billion under the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) to improve lift accessibility for 5,000 HDB blocks without direct lift access. So, all the blocks which are eligible for LUP have already been selected.

HDB also rolled out a programme in March 2012 to install lifts at all HDB multi-storey car parks without barrier-free accessibility, where it is technically feasible.

In September 2014, HDB introduced the Selective Lift Replacement Programme (SLRP). This was to replace about 750 old lifts with modern lifts that come with better safety and security features. These new lift features, which will benefit some 33,000 households, include energy-efficient motors, vision panels and doors with infra-red motion sensors. HDB is working closely with the TCs to implement the SLRP on a cost-sharing basis and we will monitor the outcomes of this programme before deciding on our next steps.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): I would like to ask the Minister one supplementary question on the SLRP. Can I query what are the selection criteria for the SLRP? I understand when it was announced in September last year, it was for lifts built between 1987 and 1997, if I remember correctly, and it covered lifts mainly in Pasir Ris. And although they do cover some lifts in my ward, they do not cover all the lifts. So, can I just query what are the selection criteria?

Mr Lawrence Wong: Madam, we have, in total, in our HDB estates about 23,500 lifts. More than 55% of them are already covered under the LUP. So, for the remaining lifts that are not covered under LUP, which are about 10,000, the oldest batch is the ones covered under the SLRP. So, this is the batch of lifts that were introduced in 1987 to 1997. They are the oldest batch of lifts that are not covered under LUP. These lifts are about 750 in number. They are located all over Singapore and we are specifically identifying them as that batch of lifts to be replaced because, as I said earlier, these are the lifts which are very old. They do not have the features that the newer lifts have, which include energy-efficient motors, vision panels and infra-red motion sensors. That is why they were identified for replacement under SLRP.

Mr Pritam Singh: Just a follow-up to that question. I understand that they were the oldest lifts. Just to confirm with the Minister – so, for example, I have an estate, Jalan Damai, the estate was built at the same time but I do understand that when HDB purchased these lifts, they purchased different brands and so on and so forth. So, in the entire estate, the lifts are largely the same. They do not have those vision panels and so forth, but under SLRP, only certain lifts were selected. So, it seems a bit incongruous to me that some lifts are selected whereas some lifts are not when the HDB estate was built at the same time.

Mr Lawrence Wong: Madam, as I mentioned, the lifts selected under the SLRP apply to the batch of lifts that was procured or put in place from 1987 to 1997. And so, that was the clear criterion that was used for the selection. Perhaps, within an estate, you may have lifts installed at different times. They may also be lifts which do not have vision panels but I think the key criterion is the time in which they were installed and we have selected this particular batch which was the batch during the period of 1987 to 1997. The oldest batch of these and we are selecting them for the SLRP.