WHAT'S a smashed-up car doing in a lot on the top deck of a multi-storey carpark in Bukit Panjang?
The sight bemused a nearby resident who alerted The New Paper. When The New Paper visited the carpark at Lompang Road Block 177A last Friday afternoon, there were only two vehicles parked at the top - Deck 4B.
One of them, on Lot 495, was a dark grey car that appeared to be a Honda Civic.
Its tyres were flat, its bonnet was crushed and front windscreen shattered. Bits of the body have also begun to rust.
The rear windscreen and steering wheel are nowhere in sight. A tyre can be seen in the rear and there's even some spray paint on the glass.
Of the licence plates, only the one at rear is still intact. There's no road tax disc, parking label or decals on the front windscreen.
How did the wreck end up there?
Mysterious wrecked car.
Most residents had no idea, neither did they know the identity of its owner.
Ms Norinah Yusof, 24, who lives in Block 177 adjacent to the carpark, said the car had been there for some time.
'I saw it a few months back. I'm not sure how and what happened to it, though,' she added.
Retiree Koh Kum Seng, 70, said many residents like him seldom don't go to that floor at the carpark.
'Most of us would take the lift down and walk the other way towards the nearby markets,' he said.
One resident, however, was able to shed some light on the damaged car.
He said the car belonged to a resident at a nearby block, and that it had been taken to the carpark after the owner ran into some financial difficulties.
'It was involved in an accident on Christmas Eve in 2007. It was sent to a workshop and for some reason, the owner couldn't pay or something,' said the resident, who declined to give his name.
He said the car had been at the carpark since July or August last year.
But would the car being left there for months inconvenience other drivers who might need the lot to park their vehicles?
A check with the Housing Board (HDB) showed that it had received feedback about the vehicle 'from their service provider two months ago'.
HDB said that it had contacted the car owner, who has been asked to either remove it or obtain a season parking ticket.
According to the HDB website, vehicle owners who flout this rule will be issued with a 'Parking Offence Notice' and can be fined between $50 and $300 for cars, depending on the exact nature of the offence.
This article was first published in The New Paper on Jan 06, 2009.
