Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has assured Singaporeans that HDB estates will be refreshed and their flats would be good homes and valuable retirement nest eggs,
He was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new integrated development at Chong Pang estate.
PM Lee said that the PAP government will “strive very hard” to make all HDB towns highly liveable and of “high quality”.
“Every town and HDB, every estate you live in, you can be assured that it is well-planned, well-appointed, well-maintained. And it will be a good place to live in, and your property values will reflect that.”
PM Lee said that such a feat is something other cities struggle to achieve.
“If you go to most cities, you will see that some areas are very nice, that is where the tour guide will take you, but there will be other areas which you may not see as a tourist — neighbourhoods left behind without much amenities, dilapidated or run down, or inconvenient to live in because it is a long journey to commute to work or to school. In contrast, every town in Singapore can be assured of “amenities, schools, clinics, hawker centres, kopitiams, sport facilities, good transport connectivity, not just within the town with shuttle bus services, but expressways, MRT lines to the rest of Singapore.”
PM Lee added:
“Our public housing system works, and I think Singaporeans know that.”
The issue of public housing has been a thorny one for the government, especially with the spike in resale flat prices and limited availability and long waiting times for BTO flats.
In January this year, the PSP challenged the government to scrap the existing BTO scheme and adopt a new public housing development scheme that the party claimed would lower the financial burden on Singaporeans and increase the accessibility of public housing for young Singaporeans.
This was dismissed by a parliament dominated by PAP MPs, who voted in favour of a counter-motion by National Development Minister Desmond Lee which affirmed the government’s commitment to affordable and accessible public housing.
