When Mr Daniel Lim moved into his dream ground-floor condominium apartment at Regentville early last month, he looked forward to lounging on the open-air patio with a cup of tea.
Unfortunately, some of his neighbours had other ideas.
Toys, tissue paper, underwear and even spittle have rained down on his dream spot every other day.
Now the 42-year-old does not dare to set foot there any more.
‘My mum was almost hit on the head by a toy rubber crocodile last month,’ said the manager of a semiconductor firm. ‘I bought a ground-floor unit so I can relax in the open with my family. You don’t expect to get things landing on your head.’
Several other ground-floor residents at the five-tower Hougang condo have had similar experiences.
Items like chicken rice, a meat cleaver, glass panels and even a full-sized baby pram have been thrown down, turning their private enclosed areas into makeshift junkyards.
Their problem is not an isolated one.
A check with several condo management companies showed that they deal with at least a few such cases in estates across the island each year, with varying degrees of seriousness.
‘Almost every estate I’ve worked with has experienced this problem,’ said Mr Muhammad Hashim, 42, a property manager with Aspire Property Management. He has more than 20 years of experience in the industry .
‘Many of these ground-floor residents live in fear of something dropping on their head every day.’
Mr Vijayen Nair, managing director of Philip Motha Property Management, sees about two to three incidents of high-rise littering each year in the 30 estates he manages.
‘Some residents knowingly create a nuisance, especially if they are angry about something and need to vent their anger,’ he said. ‘There was once a fluorescent light tube that landed in a patio, which could have seriously hurt someone.’
While heavy-duty killer litter is few and far between, cigarette butts and tissue paper are the most commonly flung objects. According to Mr Chan Kok Hong, managing director of CKH Strata Management, the problem is an endemic one for ground-floor residents.
‘If you bought a unit with a lovely ground-floor garden, you can expect things to rain on your parade,’ said Mr Chan, whose company looks after 105 condominiums.
‘A few weeks ago, I was told that a bamboo pole came down on someone’s lawn. We told the culprit to stop and issued a warning.’
According to victims and condo managers, the litterbugs are usually children, new maids or even foreign tenants who may not understand the seriousness of their actions.
Some are simply individuals who may have acted rashly during a domestic dispute.
‘We get culprits who are angry with their spouse and vent their anger by throwing things out of the window,’ said Mr Nair. ‘However, those who are repeat offenders usually have psychiatric disorders or anger management problems.’
When littering occurs, circulars or warning letters are usually handed out by the condo management, and witnesses are encouraged to come forward.
In some cases, security guards are told to make house calls to check on errant residents on higher floors.
‘Our security team will conduct door-to-door investigations, and at the same time, appeal for residents to be considerate,’ said a spokesman for Knight Frank Estate Management.
When killer litter is involved, residents are often advised to make a police report.
Under the law, those convicted of throwing killer litter may be fined up to $2,500 or jailed for up to six months, or both.
But the police are rarely called in as most residents are afraid that their property value may drop if word gets out.
‘It’s not worth it,’ said a resident in an East Coast condominium who wanted to be known only as Tony. ‘If we can settle it among ourselves, there’s no need to involve the authorities.’
When high-rise littering occurs, victims usually turn to their management council to resolve the problem or counsel offenders.
Some frustrated home owners splurge on closed-circuit television cameras to catch litterbugs, while others install expensive awnings or shelters.
These protective roofs must conform to Urban Redevelopment Authority guidelines, which state that they must not project more than 2m from the external walls of the condo unit.
The roofs also need to be approved by the estate’s management council.
At Regentville, the ground-floor residents have been unsuccessful in getting approval to build sunroofs over their patios.
The motion to do so was defeated during the annual general meeting because other residents felt that the shelters would affect the facade and security of the estate.
Residents who have built roofs have been asked by the estate’s managing agent to tear them down.
In Mr Lim’s case, he has been left in limbo because his $2,500 polycarbonate roof is only half completed.
‘I just want to protect my family,’ he said. ‘Must they wait for a death to occur before something is done?’
Source: Sunday Times, 3 Jan 2010
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