MP Not Happy That Bukit Panjang BTO Suffered 2 Water Supply Disruptions in 3 Months

Last Updated on 2023-03-28 , 10:12 am

While most of us might take clean water in Singapore for granted, it seems like others are still struggling to get clean water flowing out of their taps at times.

On that note, residents living at the Senja Ridges Build-to-Order (BTO) project in Bukit Panjang definitely fall under the latter group, especially after they recently experienced their second water supply disruption just last Sunday (19 March).

By the way, it’s only been around a year since most of the residents moved into the block.

Here’s what happened, as well as what residents and their Member of Parliament (MP) have to say.

Water Disruption Lasted for 3 Hours on Sunday

On Sunday (19 March), Senja Ridges residents had no water access from 11 am to 2 pm.

For the unaware, Senja Ridges, a one-block BTO project, is located at 638A Senja Close.

After the incident, the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council (HBPTC) responded to queries from TODAY and revealed that the power outage happened due to a ruptured sanitary gasket at the control valve.

According to the Town Council, the ruptured gasket caused an electrical trip and resulted in water entering the electrical distribution board.

The safety features of the electrical system at the block also caused a disconnect in the power supply to the water pumps at the block.

And if three hours of having no water already sounds bad enough, that’s not everything the residents had to go through.

According to them, residents only had access to “yellow and muddy” water from 2 pm to 6 pm on the same day.

The supply of clean water was only completely restored afterwards.

Residents’ Response

When speaking to TODAY, a resident named Connie Ong recalled how she initially thought that her husband had accidentally switched off the water supply when no water flowed from her tap.

However, she soon realised that her entire block was facing the same issue after she checked the messages in her block’s Telegram group chat.

Most of the ten residents that TODAY spoke to said that they were annoyed by the water outage and that it was troublesome for them.

In particular, a resident named Mr Hafiz Huzaifah said that it disrupted his plans as he needed to shower before going out.

As for Ms Ong, she mentioned that her plans to cook food were affected.

She also shared that several residents sent photos of bottled water that they had bought through Telegram.

On the other hand, another resident named Ms Lina Mohamed recalled how her family managed to shower and eat breakfast before the water supply was cut off at 11 am.

She then added that her entire family was lucky as they were not affected as much.

Apart from that, multiple residents said that they either went downstairs with pails to collect water or saw their neighbours doing so.

Last Water Outage Happened During Chinese New Year

Additionally, seven out of ten residents interviewed by TODAY shared that this water outage is not the first one that has happened at their block.

While most residents experienced two outages in total, others, such as Mr Hafiz, experienced three after moving in.

He said the first and second disruptions occurred in May 2022 and January 2023.

The one in January 2023 happened during the Chinese New Year (CNY) weekend, causing much annoyance for many residents.

Ms Lina disclosed that the outage occurred past 7 pm and that it was much more inconvenient for her family.

Apart from that, a lady named Ms Lim shared with TODAY that her daughter was taking a shower when the water supply was cut off.

As a result, she had to obtain drinking water and give it to her daughter in order for the latter to finish showering.

Ms Lim added that the incident happened on the first or second day of CNY this year.

Thankfully, Ms Lim’s family were able to go to her aunt’s house afterwards as she stays near Ms Lim and her family.

Ms Lim also expressed her exasperation and pointed out that the Senja Ridges estate is still new.

She then noted that the Town Council revealed that the water had seeped into the electrical circuits, meaning that it could have been a safety hazard.

According to her, safety hazards are even more concerning than the inconvenience of not having a proper water supply.

MP’s Response

Here’s what the residents’ MP, has to say.

Mr Edward Chia, the MP of the Zhenghua ward of the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC), responded to TODAY‘s enquiries by saying that the water outage that residents experienced on 19 March was “absolutely unacceptable”.

He added that the Town Council has since pursued the issue with the Housing Development Board and relevant BTO contractors.

However, he highlighted that the most recent water outage had nothing to do with the one that happened during the CNY weekend in January and that residents need not worry about that.

According to him, the water outage in January was caused by human negligence after someone changed the water tank settings from auto to manual.

As a result, the water in the tank was not refilled after being depleted.

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On the other hand, Ms Dorothy Cheung, the senior public relations manager of HBPTC, shared that HBPTC has since conducted checks on the “similarly sanitary connection”.

Additionally, the external pipes throughout the block have been flushed.

HBPTC is also currently in contact with the BTO contractor to enquire more about the block’s recent gasket failure.