Singapore’s Turf City Shopping Mall turns into ghost town

25.02.2012

It will be an unnerving four days for the sub-tenants at The Turf City shopping mall.
Their worries: No power, no water, no communication lines and no cleaning and maintenance, before the new leaseholder, SH Cogent, takes over the sprawling plot of land that houses a hypermart, food and retail outlets, as well as a car mart next Thursday.
In the latest twist of the messy handover, a High Court yesterday reversed an injunction that barred the current leaseholder, Singapore Agro Agricultural (SAA), from evicting any sub-tenants who want to continue their business under SH Cogent. The injunction, which was awarded by the court last month, also prevented SAA from removing fixtures or cutting off sub-tenants' access to utilities. Cogent's lawyers, Drew & Napier, are appealing against yesterday's decision.
Now, sub-tenants are sweating over whether SAA would go ahead and clear out the former Bukit Timah Turf Club site, which would force their business to a halt.
Since Jan 31, rubbish has not been promptly cleared, toilets have not been cleaned regularly, and some lights in the common areas have been switched off, some sub-tenants claimed.
"The alleyways are dark, the toilets are not cleaned, and let's just say they are not in a hurry to replace the toilet paper," Mr Lincoln Gabriel, who runs an art school with more than 400 students there, told Today. "It's about hygiene and safety."
Ms Jackie Barkman, who runs a kindergarten with more than 90 students, added: "I have a business and I just want to continue running it whether the landlord changes. To me, it just means I write the cheque (for rental) to someone else."
At a press conference called yesterday by Drew & Napier, about 10 concerned sub-tenants who have already renewed their lease with Cogent turned up to meet the media.
In all, about half of the 80 car dealers and 22 retail and food outlets - including Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant and Giant hypermart - are staying put at Turf City, according to Cogent's lawyer Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim. These retail and food outlets alone take up about 52 per cent of Turf City's space. 

In a statement yesterday, a Singapore Land Authority (SLA) spokesperson said that it has written to SAA to "urge them to take a reasonable approach to facilitate a smooth transition for businesses continuing to operate on the premises", following the court's decision yesterday.
"SLA also reiterated that it does not require SAA to reinstate those parts of the premises which are occupied by those businesses," she added. The authority has also shared with SAA the list of sub-tenants - as provided by Cogent - who will be staying on.
"SLA has also confirmed with SAA that they are not required to deliver vacant possession of the units occupied by the sub-tenants in the list in order to enable them to continue their operations uninterrupted during this period," the spokesperson said.
Despite SLA's assurance, SAA said in a press statement it is "taking steps to seek confirmation that SLA does not require the delivery of vacant possession of the premises".
And so long as such a requirement is not in place, it "sees little to be gained" in seeking to evict the sub-tenants or licensees at this stage.
But SAA reiterated that it "does not condone" their conduct of "wrongfully holding over their units in breach of the law".
Speaking to Today, SAA spokesperson Ang Kiong Teng said it had contested the injunction because it was "just trying to comply" with what was required of it as a law-abiding company.
Mr Ang reiterated: "It was (SLA's) direction 10 years ago, and then 12 months ago, to re-instate (the place). At the eleventh hour, we are surprised the SLA stuck their neck out and said otherwise."
Adding that his company had suffered "a lot of damages" - which it will seek to recover from Cogent - Mr Ang noted: "Our contracts with SLA did not say we have to smoothly transit to Cogent."