A malfunctioning lift in Sengkang has been shut down for safety checks as the authorities decide not to take any chances in the wake of a series of injuries from lift accidents this year.
The decision was made after residents reported problems with the lift at Block 299A, Compassvale Street last weekend.
Last Friday, a resident of the block, assistant safety manager Tan Joo Jin, 45, told The Straits Times that the lift had stopped randomly between floors and dropped suddenly. Another resident ran into problems with the same lift on Sunday afternoon, Channel NewsAsia reported.
She was heading to her apartment on the ninth floor when the lift jerked and stopped midway for a few seconds before opening at the fifth floor.
When asked, the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council said its lift engineer and contractor tested the lift on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
MP Zainal Sapari, chairman of the town council, said no issues were detected after last Friday’s report, and that they suspected the problem might be intermittent.
The town council added that its lift engineer and contractor did not experience a jerk and midway stop.
But it shut down the lift on Sunday to do a more thorough check yesterday.
During the check, the lift jerked and stopped for a while before moving again.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has since suspended operation of Lift C for further investigations. The town council has to appoint an independent authorised examiner to inspect the lift, recommend rectification works and submit the findings to BCA, it said.
“The investigation and required rectification works must be carried out to the satisfaction of BCA before the lift will be allowed to resume operations,” said a spokesman.
The town council added that its lift engineer and lift contractor are “troubleshooting and trying to trace the fault, and will arrange for rectification work once they confirm which faulty parts need replacement”. It will also arrange for other lifts with similar feedback to be checked.
Said a spokesman for lift contractor Sigma: “We are aware of this incident and are working to gather more information as quickly as possible.”
During a visit to Block 299A yesterday, some residents said they had experienced jerking and other problems with at least one of three lifts servicing their 17-storey block.
Herman Omar, 36, who lives on the fourth floor, said his housing agent was unable to press any of the buttons in another lift in the block around two months ago. The Institute of Technical Education lecturer added: “Sometimes, in the morning, the lift doesn’t stop at all on our floor. The waiting time can be more than 10 minutes.”
Close to 6pm on Sunday, second-floor resident Almazan Edward Siguerra, 46, said the affected lift stopped at his floor although its display showed it was under maintenance. A notice on the ground floor said: “Encountered lift drop issue at 4.10pm!! Do not use lift C.”
“The problem is, they just put it on the ground floor. They should put it on all the floors,” added the senior field service engineer.
The BCA said there have been 12 lift incidents that led to injuries since 2013. Five lift incidents were reported in the past eight months.
byseow@sph.com.sg
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