More than 500 families to make way for new highway Wed, Nov 16, 2011 | AsiaOne Rochor Centre will soon be demolished, to make way for the new North-South Expressway (NSE) in the southern segment of the project. Long time residents - some of whom have lived there for more than 30 years - are largely resigned to the news that they will have to vacate their homes in five years. Retiree Wong Tong Hoe, 72, told The Straits Times that he had lived there with his family since 1978 and enjoyed the view outside his 17th-floor flat. "Even if we feel sad, it can't be helped," said Mr Wong. Rochor Centre is among more than 20 private properties which will have part of their plots acquired for the highway and several slip roads and ramps leading to and from the highway. It is the biggest land acquisition to date. The blocks, which are painted in bright hues of green, red and yellow, comprise HDB flats, shops, eating houses and three communal facilities: a kindergarten, a Residents' Committee centre and a home for the aged. Earlier this year, the government gave the green light for the 15.9 km North-South Expressway (NSE)between Admiralty Road West and Toa Payoh Rise, and announced properties in the northern segment which will be affected by the construction. These include parts of Marymount, Sembawang and Yio Chu Kang. Other acquisitions for the southern segment include the Lee Ah Mooi Nursing Home in Thomson, Nanyang Pho Leng Building near Kampong Java, and the Victoria Wholesale Centre. Residents there will be compensated and have the option to move to new flats by the Kallang River, near the Kallang MRT station. These will be ready in mid-2016. Prices of the flats will be frozen at today's rates, with an additional 20 per cent discount. Tenants who relocate will also receive a 10 per cent discount on a successful bid for other HDB rental shops, among other relocation benefits. Those who took over the premises before 1999 will receive payouts of S$60,000 each. An additional S$30,000 will be given to those who choose to continue business at an alternative premise. Mrs Nargis Banu, 34, who has lived in Rochor Centre for seven years, told The Straits Times that she would miss the convenience of having facilities such as a supermarket and a bank right below her home. Her two children attend the kindergarten and school nearby. "I'm quite sad. I'm not sure what to do, whether to take the new place at Kallang or go somewhere else," said Mrs Banu. Ms Sumathi Thanmugham, 51, who has lived there for more than 30 years, likes how Rochor Centre is served by many buses and is near Bugis MRT station. She told The Straits Times that her parents are old and her father is a stroke patient, so staying near her workplace at Stamford Primary School is ideal, as she can rush back home if anything happens. "This place is like heaven. I'd rather stay. It's quite sad to need to count the days to the year we leave."