Under the Goodwill Repair Assistance (GRA) scheme, the Housing Board (HDB) helps flat owners take care of issues such as ceiling leaks.

I have a problem of water leaking from a kitchen ceiling pipe.

HDB said on March 26 that the GRA scheme cannot be tapped to help with the repair costs.

My sister-in-law had a similar problem with her kitchen toilet involving another unit on the lower floor, and the HDB helped to pay for the repair cost out of goodwill.

It co-paid 50 per cent of the repair cost, and the remaining 50 per cent was paid equally by my sister-in-law and the owner of the other unit.

The difference is that in my case, only my unit is affected.

The similarity is that the defects in our units resulted from wear and tear. Moreover, the defective pipe in my unit is the original one provided by HDB.

On March 29, I appealed to HDB to help us with the GRA scheme out of goodwill, but have not received a reply.

My husband and I are retirees in our 70s without any income.

While the leak is within my unit, I am still hoping that HDB can exercise some flexibility and help us co-pay the repair cost.

Whing Yeok Leng