Eunos resident claims renovation debris from next door killed his 8 carps worth $5,000, burst his car tyres 4 times

Cracks in the ceiling, flat car tyres, dead fishes. A homeowner in Eunos has had enough of the damage he has to suffer because of his neighbour's renovation works. 

Local philanthropist Lim Ah Boy, who lives in a landed estate at Jalan Kechot, told Shin Min Daily that his neighbour started renovation works more than a year ago. 

The 60-year-old claimed that no protective barriers were put up, resulting in cement and gravel falling into his yard. The debris polluted his carp pond, causing the death of his eight fishes, he alleged.

Explaining that carps are sensitive creatures, he said: "When the water is polluted, they become uncomfortable and jump out."

Lim, who has been raising his Japanese carps for five to seven years, paid $5,000 to $6,000 for them.

One died in February, four more died in March, and the rest are also dead now, he said.

"I'll stop rearing carps for now, until my neighbour has completed his renovation. It breaks my heart to see my fishes die." 

Flat tyres, cracks in ceiling 

Lim also said he has gotten four flat tyres between February and June this year, no thanks to the debris and sharp metal objects that fell into his yard.

"Every time I get a tyre changed, it would be punctured again soon after and I had to take it to the workshop," he added.

In a photo provided by Lim to Shin Min, a large amount of gravel and debris of various sizes can be seen scattered on the ground.

"Every time the construction started, a lot of debris would fly over. Some [pieces] were up to two inches long and might have been fatal if they had hit us," Lim said, adding that his wife and a part-time cleaner help clear the mess.

The renovation works also caused cracks in his ceiling several months ago because of the tremors from laying the foundation, Lim alleged.

"But when we asked [the contractors] about it, they denied it, so I had to pay for the repairs myself," he added.

Inevitable that debris would fly over

A frustrated Lim wishes to remind contractors to consider the well-being of the neighbours when carrying out construction work.

In response to Lim's complaints, Su Rixing, the contractor in charge of the renovation, said that they usually install dust-proof sheets.

"Because we needed to remove the stone columns and dismantle the iron frame [of the house], we did not install [the sheets] recently," he explained.

He added that after receiving feedback from Lim, he had fenced off the carp pond while laying lime in June. Thinking that was sufficient, he removed the plastic sheet surrounding the pond.

"During construction, it is inevitable that some gravel or dust will fly over," Su said, adding that he had gotten a crew to clean Lim's balcony for free as compensation, instead of charging him $3,000.

ALSO READ: 'They drilled through my floor': Toa Payoh resident says renovation works below his flat damaged his home

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com