New community care apartments in Bukit Batok ‘soon to be completed’: Amy Khor
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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s first assisted living public housing flats in Bukit Batok West Avenue 9 are on their way to welcoming new residents, after a three- to four-month delay to the project’s completion date due to issues with its former main contractor.
Initially slated to be ready in the second quarter of 2024, the project is now expected to be completed between September and October.
Hong Kah North MP Amy Khor said in a Facebook post on Aug 28 that she caught a glimpse of the soon-to-be-completed community care apartments at Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok, and the 400-seat hawker centre on the first floor of the development.
Dr Khor said she was looking forward to their completion and to welcoming residents of the development.
Community care apartments are an assisted living public housing concept jointly developed by the Ministry of National Development, the Ministry of Health and the Housing Board, aimed at providing more housing options for the elderly as the population ages.
The pilot batch of assisted living flats was launched in February 2021.
Each unit will come with senior-friendly fittings, such as wheelchair-accessible bathrooms with slip-resistant flooring and grab bars.
Residents will have to subscribe to a basic service package, which includes 24-hour emergency monitoring and basic health checks.
An on-site community manager will help to link residents up with relevant care services according to their needs, assist with simple household fixes, and organise community activities.
Residents may also layer on, at additional cost, optional care services depending on their care needs and preferences.
Examples of optional services include help with their activities of daily living, as well as household services such as meal delivery, laundry and housekeeping.
All residents will also be prioritised for admission to the nearby Bukit Batok Care Home should the need arise in the future.
Buyers of these flats must be aged 65 and above and can opt for leases that start from 15 years.
On Jan 9, 2023, HDB terminated the services of main contractor JSM Construction Group due to “unsatisfactory site progress”. HDB appointed Qingjian International (South Pacific) Group Development to take over the project on Feb 14 that year.
Despite the change, HDB initially assessed that it could meet the completion timeline of the second quarter of 2024 by working closely with the new contractor and implementing measures to expedite construction.
Such measures included using more machinery, hiring additional subcontractors, and carrying out quieter works, such as plastering and painting, after office hours and on weekends within the permissible noise limits set by the National Environment Agency.
But HDB said it encountered more operating constraints on-site, including limited hours for noisy construction work such as drilling.
Buyers were informed of the delay on Nov 8, 2023. Then, HDB acknowledged that the delay inconvenienced buyers, and said it would continue to work closely with the contractors to expedite construction, without compromising on quality and safety of the project.
Meanwhile, the new hawker centre on the first floor of Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok is slated to open in the second quarter of 2025.
Dr Khor said in a previous Facebook post
The second batch of community care flats in Queenstown will be ready in the fourth quarter of 2028. The third project in Bedok, launched in December 2023, is slated for completion between the fourth quarter of 2027 and first quarter of 2028.
