MacPherson Gardens first private residential estate to get government-funded upgrading
By
Mavis Toh
About 22 per cent of the 1,581 residents in 397 units in MacPherson Gardens are above 60 years old. -- PHOTO: STOMP
A WISH list for senior citizens living in any housing estate would surely include flattened road kerbs and covered drains to enhance wheelchair access.
Also in demand would be tactile road markings in bright colours to highlight changes in levels and directions, gentle slopes and ramps to mitigate changes in levels and slip-resistant service roads and footpaths facing shops.
Barrier-free and elderly-friendly features like these are coming soon - to MacPherson Gardens.
It will be the first private estate to have these facilities under a government-funded Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP) for private residential estates.
At a ground-breaking ceremony yesterday afternoon, guest-of-honour Fatimah Lateef said the mature estate, in need of upgrading and with a large number of senior citizens, was an ideal pilot project.
'Many of the senior citizens here are in need of barrier-free access and it's very timely to implement at a point when we need to cater to this group of people,' Dr Fatimah, an MP for Marine Parade GRC, said.
About 22 per cent of the 1,581 residents in 397 units in MacPherson Gardens are above 60 years old.
Project architect Huang Jia-yeu said: 'We aim towards a zero-barrier situation, whether for a person in a wheelchair or a parent pushing a stroller, to have no hassle in getting about.'
The upgrading, expected to be finished in 15 months, will cost about $6.7 million.
In her speech, Dr Fatimah assured residents that, despite the ongoing global economic and financial crisis, the government has planned for and set aside funds for its projects.
