Housing issues top list of concerns at MPS for Ang Mo Kio GRC

SINGAPORE: Housing issues top the list of concerns raised by residents at the Meet—the—People sessions (MPS) of Ang Mo Kio GRC. These include the buying and selling of flats and requests for rental flats.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is an MP of the GRC, shared this information on his Facebook page on Thursday.

He said that in 2012, the GRC served nearly 2,800 residents who sought help at the MPS and wrote 5,500 letters of appeal, or more than 100 letters per week. More than a third of the appeals revolved around housing matters.

Mr Lee said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has a tough job but is making progress —— with more Build—to—Order flats and shorter waiting times for rental flats.

Other common appeals were for financial assistance (14 per cent) followed by immigration matters (12 per cent) and traffic and parking issues (nine per cent).

Education appeals (four per cent) popped up seasonally, especially during admissions periods for schools and tertiary institutes.

Mr Lee said fortunately, there were not many requests for help to find jobs —— three per cent of the cases revolve around job requests.

There were not many requests for help with medical bills as well, with only 82 cases throughout the whole year or less than two per cent.

"We always seek to give residents a full and sympathetic hearing, and to help them as best as we can. Even if we can’t fully solve all their problems, we can often at least lessen them," wrote Mr Lee.

—CNA/ac