Debated in Parliament on 2 Nov 2020.
Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB will consider replacing all laundry pole holders with elderly-friendly drying racks in HDB flats in the immediate future instead of waiting for the Home Improvement Programme.
HDB has been progressively replacing pipe socket laundry pole holders with external clothes drying racks under its upgrading programmes, covering almost 450,000 flats to date. HDB is now implementing the extended Home Improvement Programme for some 230,000 flats built between 1987 and 1997. Because of the large number of flats involved, the work will have to be done progressively in phases, over the next 10 years or so.
In addition, there are some older flats which were previously upgraded under the Main Upgrading Programme (MUP), and are still using the pipe socket laundry pole holders. We are studying the possibility of replacing the pipe socket holders in these flats with other clothes drying rack solutions.
In the meantime, residents in flats with pipe socket laundry holders can consider other clothes drying solutions, such as indoor free-standing racks, which are easily available in the market in a range of options to suit their needs and preferences.
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