Roach infestation at HDB flats: Hundreds of cockroaches emerge outside one hoarder's unit

Dealing with the occasional pest in our homes might be a terrifying experience for some but imagine seeing hundreds of them, especially cockroaches, all at once. 

That's what these residents who live next to hoarders have to deal with.

One female resident who lives on the ninth floor of a HDB block at King George's Avenue, Jalan Besar, complained to Shin Min Daily News last Saturday (March 5) that cockroaches come from one of the units occupied by a 63-year-old man, who is known to hoard items that he collects from outside. 

Said the 58-year-old woman: "In 2017, when HDB was refurbishing our toilets, the man finally opened his front door and we realised his house was filled with junk."

"The workers cleared two or three truckloads of items from his flat, but I think his house became filled with junk again." 

Another neighbour also shared with the Chinese daily that he cleans the common corridor daily, but the cockroaches still appear. He added that there is always a foul stench emitting from that particular unit. 

Reporters also found out that a female resident who lives next to the elderly man sprayed insecticide on the potted plants outside the unit, only to cause hundreds of cockroaches to crawl out, creating a shocking sight along the corridor. 

Unfortunately, these residents at King George's Avenue aren't the only ones with cockroach woes. 

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Over at Bedok South Avenue 1, residents are facing a similar debacle, as one of their neighbours, a middle-aged man, has been hoarding old clothes and plastic bags in his flat for more than ten years. 

This has led to cockroaches breeding in his home.

Speaking to reporters, the middle-aged man said that he had a burst water pipe in his kitchen in January but the authorities could not get to the kitchen as there were too many things in his house.

One of his neighbours told Shin Min Daily News that this man does not sleep in the unit but does so at the void deck of a nearby block instead.

"If there's a fire in his home, it'll be too late by the time he realises it," said the neighbour. 

This man has also been known to leave some of his clothes along the corridor, blocking the walkway. A resident, who is in his 30s, complained: "My father is wheelchair-bound, sometimes he can't even get out of our flat." 

Other residents also observed cockroaches crawling out from the unit when the man opened the door. 

Although his neighbours and town council officers have persuaded him to clean up his unit multiple times, their words have fallen on deaf ears. 

claudiatan@asiaone.com