Electrical bill rebates for residential nearby MRT construction

As we know, Singapore is in the progress of major MRT constructions around Singapore for the next decade. Many residential areas are very near to these constructions area and very badly affected by them.

The construction hours often last till late night. Although the government officials are trying to address the noise and pollution issues by using noise dampening walls and restricting noisy constructions to day time, it does not address the fact that there are people resting at home in the day. Most of these people are the old, young infants, housewives, night-shift workers or even people that work from home. In order to be able to rest properly at home, windows and doors have to be shut to reduce the noise and dust from coming into the house. This works to a certain extent. However, the house will be deprived of fresh air and it gets really stuffy even with the strongest fan. Air-conditioning is the next possible solution. Inevitably, the electricity bills goes up. Bear in mind, the construction project do not end in months, it takes around 7 years for smaller projects like expansion of platform/adding new tracks to more than 10 years for a new MRT station. An additional $100 electricity bill per month works out to be $12,000 for the duration of a new MRT project.

The purpose of this petition is to request PUB to consider a certain amount of rebate to help residents affected by the construction site to cope with the additional burden on top of the other price hike introduced lately. There are several ways with one being lower electricity rate with cap at certain amount. For example, 30% reduction in bill capped at S$300, etc. This helps to ensure that the rebate program does not get abused.