Sewage shock for owners of new flat
PUBLISHED ONMay 13, 2015 1:30 AM
A couple were shocked and angry when they discovered that their newly furnished flat in Punggol had turned into a "giant toilet bowl" in the few days they had not visited it.
The Build-to-Order flat - located on the seventh floor of Block 313C, Sumang Link - was found to be flooded with faeces and urine when the male owner inspected it on Monday, following an alert by the Housing Board that water had been flowing out from it, reported Shin Min Daily News.
The excrement came from a clogged toilet and was still oozing from it at that point, his wife, Fadilah, told the evening daily.
The male owner broke down and cried when he saw the mess.
By Monday evening, the flat had been cleaned up with help from the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.
But yellow stains could still be seen on the white tiles in the home, said Shin Min.
The stains were also noticeable on the wooden doors and sofa, while a foul smell continued to permeate the flat.
The male owner, who declined to be named, said their electrical appliances and the baby room were damaged by the sewage. They had spent about $50,000 on renovations.
"(The furniture was) standing in a deluge of excrement. (It) was also stained. Nothing here can be used any more," he told Shin Min.
Ms Fadilah, 31, who works in the sales sector, said they received the key to the flat in June. But they stayed with his parents as she was expecting a child.
The couple's original plan had been to move into the new flat next week.
"Now I don't know what we should do," said Ms Fadilah as she sat dejectedly in the flat's living room.
She recounted that two weeks ago, the town council informed her husband that a pipe was leaking in the flat.
On the same day, it told him the problem was fixed.
Then came the call on Monday, which led them to the shocking scene.
A spokesman for the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council said renovation debris was found among the excrement during the cleaning process.
The town council told Shin Min it is working with the HDB to investigate the incident.
According to evening daily Lianhe Wanbao, the resident living directly above Ms Fadilah's flat had also faced the problem of a clogged toilet recently, which lasted a few days.
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