Man accidentally locked in flat by HDB officers
Imagine being locked inside your flat without food or water for a day. At least that’s what a 63-year-old elderly man experienced after finding himself locked inside his rental flat in Bukit Merah.
Officers from the Housing Development Board (HDB) had changed the locks to his two-room rental flat at Henderson Road on Monday afternoon without realising the man, who wanted to be known as Mr Liao, was still inside, The New Paper reported.
Apparently, officers did that to repossess the flat as it had been in rental arrears amounting to $2,000 for more than three years, the paper said.
According to local Chinese tabloid Shin Min Daily, Liao was not able to respond well to questions posed by its reporter.
On this issue, an HDB spokesman told TNP that referrals have been made to the family service centre and Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to assist him but it has not been successful as Liao was not responsive.
When officers first arrived at the flat, they found the main door wide open and, despite repeated calls to find out if anyone was inside the flat, there was no response.
In light of this issue, an HDB said that its internal procedures will be tightened to ensure such incidents do not take place again.
Liao was “released” from his flat on Tuesday afternoon after a neighbor informed HDB officers of the incident.
Throughout the day he was locked in, TNP reported that Liao allegedly had no water for consumption and asked neighbours for water and food.
But even prior to the incident, Liao, who is unemployed would sometimes ask for money and food. A neighbor said she has seen him leaving his flat with a plastic bag, searching for leftover food at coffeeshops, the paper said.
