Disputes between Neighbours Linked to Cigarette Smoke

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development (a) in the past year, how many disputes between neighbours have been reported to HDB; (b) how many were because of cigarette smoke; (c) how many were mediated successfully; and (d) whether there have been any disputes that were escalated to Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals or other channels.

In 2017, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) received 3,493 instances of feedback regarding disputes between neighbours. Of these, 216 instances, or about 6%, were related to smoking.

It is natural that disagreements arise between neighbours from time-to-time and, in general, it is best for such disputes to be settled informally between the parties involved. Where mediation is required, residents can approach the Community Mediation Centre (CMC), which provides trained neutral parties to help neighbours arrive at mutually acceptable solutions. In 2017, 24 cases involving disputes arising from cigarette smoke were registered with CMC, of which two proceeded to mediation. Both cases were successfully mediated.

For intractable cases where parties are unable to resolve their disputes, aggrieved parties can file a case with the Community Disputes Resolutions Tribunals (CDRT) as a last resort. The CDRT judge can order parties to attend mandatory mediation in the Courts or at the CMC, to attend counselling, or to fix the case for hearing by the Courts. There were no cases pertaining to cigarette smoke filed with CDRT in 2017.