Terrace house resident fed up with construction noise from Hougang BTO -- even on Sundays
A Tai Keng Gardens resident is fed up with the noise from a construction site behind his terrace house seven days a week.
The construction is for Tanjong Tree Residence, a BTO project in Hougang.
Stomper Peter shared his experience after reading an earlier Stomp article about a Pasir Ris resident who was kept awake till 1am by construction noise.
Peter said: "I am facing a similar issue with the Tanjong Tree Residence construction project, which is in extreme close proximity and directly behind our houses.
"For many years, we have had to bear with the ongoing construction noise from Monday to Saturday, and yet we are still not spared the disturbance on Sunday."
The Stomper shared a video of the noise on Nov 2 at around 9am.
"We try to sleep a little longer on Sundays, but are awakened by the loud and sharp beeping noise emitted from the construction site," he lamented.
"Besides the beeping noise, there are also loud banging noises and loud music playing."
Peter reported the matter to the authorities with his video, but was "disappointed" by the reply he got.
Peter was informed that the noise from the Tanjong Tree Residence project is within permissible limits – unlike the Pasir Ris case he cited, where NEA took action against the contractor for exceeding permitted noise levels.
However, the Stomper further questioned: "My video clearly proves that the construction work is noisy. There is also a no-work rule on Sundays. Why is there a double standard? Do rules not apply to government projects?"
According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), the no-work rule applies on Sundays and public holidays, specifically:
- 10pm on Saturday till 7am on the following Monday; and
- 10pm on the eve of public holiday till 7am on the day following the public holiday.
Exceptions are when contractors have been issued with a permit, such as in the cases of "work of public interest and of safety-critical nature".
"These projects are granted conditional exemptions from NEA's 'no-work' rule," the agency stated on its website.
"Nevertheless, such projects are required to implement all practicable noise mitigation measures to reduce any potential noise disturbances to the nearby residents and ensure close monitoring of the noise levels generated from the work activities."
Stomp understands that BTO projects, such as Tanjong Tree Residence, fall under work of public interest. This was explained to Peter, but he remains frustrated by the noise.
