Dear Pro-Tem Committee,
Thank you for your update dated 5 Feb 2008. While I am
in favor of privatization for the purpose of enbloc,
some of us feel that this update did not adequately
address a possible scenario – what if the
privatization is successful but the enbloc does not go
through as planned? These are two separate decisions
now which requires residents’ consent at two different
stages, so this is a plausible scenario. There is also
a chance that market situation may be different 18
months down the road.
Though the letter did inform us some of the benefits
of privatization, it is also clear to us that we the
residents will be left with the burden of managing an
old estate which will continuously require repairs and
upgrades. While we do not need to pay car parking, we
have to pay a maintenance fee which may be higher than
what we pay currently. It is also unclear what
communal facilities we will enjoy other than the new
fitness centre next to Block 319. These are just some
of the questions in our minds.
We hope the Pro-Tem committee will address these
concerns before the mass signing exercise – namely,
what will happen to this estate should it privatize
but not go enbloc.
Thank you
A. Ivan
Hi Au ivan
To clarify this issue let me share some of our thoughts which we have
deliberated. In addition, my fellow colleagues will be able to add if I
have missed out some key points:
1) The fact is clear we have no choice, we need to privatize regardless
whether we want to enbloc or against. The reasons are very clear:
- The HDB intention is to encourage us to privatize – we are the last
batch of HUDC Phase 3 & 4 which has yet to be privatized. Others HUDC
already been privatized and/or enbloc per se.
- The Government intention is very clear to be privatized is an asset
enhancement for the residents. Once the estate is privatized we are
given a free hand to run our own private estates similar to Farrer
Court/Braddell Height/Lake View etc etc….
2) Your concerns are that if we are successful in the privatized but not
enbloc what maintenance fee to pay and what type of facilities we can
have in the estates.
To answer your questions, let me elabourate:
- We can have condominium facilties like having a club-house to run the
estates, fitness centre, swimming pool if feasible can be initiated
depending on the available funds and facilities residents intend to have
in the estates. This is a matter of dollars and cents and affordability.
- As regards to maintenance fee I reckon it would be the same as before
when we privatized. The reason is because Bishan Toa Payoh Town Council
will transfer the balance of the existing sinking and operation funds
BSTC to the newly formed MCST Management Committee once we finalized our
privatization. Basically, our pro-tem committee for privatization will
be dissolved a new MCST Management Committee will be formed and elected
at the AGM to run the newly privatized estates by appointing qualified
managing agent like Emansco(BSTC)/Knight Frank/United Premas etc. This
has proven successful for the other privatized estates like
Braddell/Lakeview/Farrer Court.
- Currently our estates is still considered a HDB controlled area and
run by Bishan Toa Payoh Town Council managing agent is ESMANCO. As what
my colleague Mr Dutt has mentioned in his replied to one his neighbor
presently the standard of maintenance is not really up to the mark and
has room for improvement. Outsiders tend to come and sit at our void
decks and dirty the place. Cleaning work is not able to keep pace with
the problem. Some residents and particularly maids tend to contribute to
the problem(eg dogs urinating etc) Privatization would help to solve
these routine issues happening in our estates and thereafter residents
should review the standard of maintenance we desire and the price that
we are willing to pay for such a service. It will have to be a
collective solution with participation from all residents.
In Summary, our pro-tem committee felt strongly whether the market goes
up or down it does not matter as we already exhausted all the existing
avenues of appeals to get our estates privatized cum collective sales
but fail in our attempt. If we don’t do it to get it privatized and let
it continues to run as it then this will be an estates which will
decline in values and depreciates progressively as our units already
coming to 25 years old by the times we privatized our estates. We will
be at standstill whether the other Privatized estates like Eunos already
received more than 80% voting to be privatized. We are the first few who
initiated the privatization and looks we may be the last one before our
residents will agree to do it.
Now, we all have to do our parts, even the enbloc does not goes through
a privatized estates will be able to fetch a higher value than a
non-privatized estates. Believe us, as once the estates agents in
Singapore knew that we are not successful in our privatization attempts,
the value of the unit (the latest sold at S$850,000) will drop
tremendously to where it is in 2006/2007 value.
So the choice is ours to privatize or not to privatize.
Philip Liau
Pro-Tem Committee
