SINGAPORE: Residents at The Sail @ Marina Bay are taking property developer CDL to court over what they say are defects with the condominium’s rubbish chute system.
Bags of rubbish would often get stuck in the chutes, causing a foul smell and attracting pests, residents told Channel NewsAsia on Wednesday (Jan 17).
They say they have had to bear with the stench for almost eight years.
Investigations conducted by the condominium’s Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) attributed the problem to the defective design of the chute system.
In 2013, residents mandated the MCST to take developer City Developments Limited (CDL) to task. Several letters of demand were sent to CDL, calling for it to rectify the defects. A writ of summons and statement of claim were filed a year later.
Four years on, the long-running saga has not been resolved and the case will be heard by the courts on Feb 6.
When contacted, CDL confirmed the lawsuit. A spokesman declined to comment further as the case is now before the courts.
Once touted as Singapore’s finest luxury condominium, few would have heard about the smelly rubbish chutes that residents have had to live with.
Residents leave their bags of trash on the floor of the bin room. (Photo: Rachelle Lee)
A 59-year-old resident who wanted to be known only as Ms Kym said: “The garbage chute has been out for a long time and we haven’t been able to use it. This for me is the biggest problem … the smell is atrocious.”
She added: “The lifts have also been breaking down a little bit and this throws the building out because we’ve got 69 floors and many units.”
Another resident Marjorie Wu, 22, said: “My father comes down to the loading bay on the first floor to throw our bags of rubbish every day.”
One resident with knowledge of the lawsuit told Channel NewsAsia that the defective design was “one of the main issue(s) in the lawsuit”.
The sealed rubbish chutes undergoing repair works. (Photo: Rachelle Lee)
When Channel NewsAsia visited the condominium on Wednesday, the chutes were sealed and repair works were under way.
The development’s management council told Channel NewsAsia that extra cleaners have to be hired to manually remove the bags of rubbish left outside the chutes several times a day.
The MCST is also seeking monetary compensation for damaged fixtures, which includes burst water pipes underground.
In an upcoming extraordinary general meeting next Saturday, the MCST will seek the residents’ consent to use up to S$3.3 million from the sinking fund to replace the entire rubbish chute system. It will also seek consent to use up to S$450,000 from the management fund for legal proceedings.
