Joo Chiat private estate to be upgraded with new community spaces, senior-friendly features
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Manpower Minister and Marine Parade GRC MP Tan See Leng shared the plans with residents at a community brunch event at Koon Seng Park on April 12.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE – Residents of private housing in Joo Chiat Neighbourhood 2 can look forward to new or improved facilities over the next three to five years, including new recreational spaces, estate markets and senior-friendly walkways, as well as improved lighting and connectivity.
Manpower Minister and Marine Parade GRC MP Tan See Leng shared these plans with residents at a community brunch event at Koon Seng Park on April 12.
The estate, bounded by Joo Chiat Road, Still Road, Changi Road and Marine Parade Road, is part of the Marine Parade ward.
The upgrading works, which will come under the Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP), were announced by Minister for National Development Desmond Lee in February.
Dr Tan said residents were happy about the news, as they had felt left out of many estate upgrading programmes that do not involve private estates.
He said residents have requested a larger dog run, shelter for a community space where Zumba classes are held, better lighting for safety at night, and improved drainage and walkways across drains.
Dr Tan said residents can join an EUP committee to provide their ideas on how to improve the estate, which the Marine Parade Citizens’ Consultative Committee will then convey to the Ministry of National Development.
“I hope that certainly this EUP will go some way in making these spaces... very, very resident-friendly,” he said.
The EUP was started in 2000 to develop and upgrade infrastructure in ageing private estates, which do not have access to town council or Housing Board grants. Residents do not have to pay for the upgrading works.
Of the 32 private estates that will be upgraded over the next five years, 25 estates with more than 16,600 households – Joo Chiat Neighbourhood 2 included – will undergo upgrades costing $124 million in all.
Seven estates with a higher concentration of seniors will come under the EUP’s new silver estate scheme, getting upgrades worth $11 million that will benefit more than 3,700 households.
Residents in a zumba session during a community brunch event at Koon Seng Park on April 12.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Since the EUP was launched in 2000, about $216 million has been spent on upgrading 74 private estates over 10 batches of the project.
More than 54,000 households have benefited from the EUP, including those in Serangoon Garden, Mount Sinai and Braddell Heights.
Dr Tan on April 12 urged residents to give their ideas on how to improve the estate, adding that he hopes to make the estate a welcoming gathering space for residents of all ages.
