For the past four months, housewife Yeo Choon Lan, 66, has kept her kitchen windows closed and covered with a large plastic sheet.
It might be unsightly, but it’s better than the alternative.
Madam Yeo said in Mandarin: “A neighbour upstairs has been throwing faeces from their kitchen and bathroom window. I cannot sleep well at night because I’m afraid that it will enter the room or even break my window.”
Nine pieces of excrement were found on the floor and walls outside Madam Yeo’s ground level unit at Block 694 Hougang Street 61 when The New Paper visited on Tuesday.
Her ordeal began in May this year when she heard loud plopping noises outside her window at around 4am.
But despite informing organisations, including the National Environmental Agency (NEA), the situation remains unchanged.
Aside from more flies and ants, the excrement was untouched when TNP visited last Wednesday.
The onslaught was the worst in June, when she would hear faeces thrown three times a day.
“Excrement has fallen around 20 times (since May). It’s a very foul smell and we are very distressed,” said Madam Yeo, who lives with her husband, 69, and daughter, 40.
The issue has also hurt her relations with her neighbours, a 32-year-old woman and her mother who live on the third storey and whom Madam Yeo suspects are the culprits.
“Once, I saw the mother leaving the toilet shortly after some night soil had fallen,” Madam Yeo said.
A neighbour on the third storey told TNP: “It’s very gross, I don’t dare go to the back where the faeces is.”
Madam Yeo filed three police reports between June and September.
LAWYERS WEIGH IN
If charged, the culprit caught throwing faeces can face a fine not exceeding $1,000, said Mr Justin Tan, an associate lawyer at Trident Law Corporation.
To initiate action, Madam Yeo will have to pay $20 to file a Magistrate’s Complaint, he said.
The guilty party can then be charged under the Environmental Public Health Act.
Mr Tan said: “The court will issue a notice for the person throwing excrement to attend court. They can then go through mediation or the victim can apply for the person to be charged.”
However, if the faeces enters Madam Yeo’s compound, the offender can be charged under the Protection from Harassment Act, said lawyer Lim Kia Tong.
“The magistrate can order the police to investigate,” said Mr Lim.
Source: www.tnp.sg
