The ruling party-appointed committee, PAP Lift Taskforce, deflected lack of maintenance by PAP town councils and blamed the residents for “misuse” which led to a series of lift failures and accidents.
Headed by PAP MP Teo Ho Pin, the PAP Lift Taskforce blamed residents for common “misuse” of HDB lifts in 3 ways:
1) Wedging items into door frames
2) Items blocking from closing
3) Trolleys or prams interfering with closing doors
However, the PAP Lift Taskforce did not highlight that existing safety mechanisms already existed in modern lifts today are able to handle these door interruption scenarios. The committee also failed to highlight that HDB lifts are often used as cargo lifts, and hence do not have the “door hold” function.
The PAP Lift Taskforce yesterday also said they will have to raise S$45 million from residents to pay for lift improvement projects for 15 town councils. All accidents to date happened in PAP Town Councils, the Opposition Workers’ Party-held Aljunied Town Council have no such incidents.