March 2, 2009
'No' to rent cuts
Former JTC tenants vexed by refusal despite new landlord's offer to help them in other ways
By Francis Chan
TENANTS of former JTC Corp factories are vexed at the refusal of the new landlord, Mapletree Investments, to lower rents in these difficult times.
A group of 123 bosses - about 90 per cent of the tenants at the Toa Payoh North Industrial Estate - petitioned Mapletree last December to cut rents by 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
'They wrote recently and told me they will not accede to our request for the rent reduction,' said Mrs Lee Yoke Keng, director of UST Technology, a tenant there since 1974.
Like Mrs Lee, most tenants run small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have operated out of the former JTC property since as far back as the 1970s.
And like most export-driven manufacturing firms, a majority have reported a fall of 50 per cent to 80 per cent in sales, and are looking for ways to cut costs.
In response, Mapletree spokesman Shae Hung Yee told The Straits Times that it had considered the tenants' request but was unable to accede to the rental reduction. 'We cannot support such an across-the-board rental cut. We are running a business just like they are.'
Nonetheless, Mapletree - a wholly owned unit of Temasek Holdings - is trying various other means to help the tenants. These efforts, however, are cold comfort to SME bosses trying to manage declining order books and rising business cost amid increasing uncertainty.
The root of their frustrations: Had the property not been sold by JTC and taken over by Mapletree last July, they would have enjoyed 15 per cent rental rebates announced during this year's Budget.
As part of the Resilience Package, tenants of JTC, the Housing Board, the National Environment Agency and the Singapore Land Authority are entitled to a rental rebate of 15 per cent.
'I've been left out in the cold through no fault of my own,' said Mrs Lee. 'In the past, JTC's original objective was to provide a stabilising force in the rental market for industry but now we're under Mapletree, that becomes meaningless.'
'No' to rent cuts
Former JTC tenants vexed by refusal despite new landlord's offer to help them in other ways
By Francis Chan
TENANTS of former JTC Corp factories are vexed at the refusal of the new landlord, Mapletree Investments, to lower rents in these difficult times.
A group of 123 bosses - about 90 per cent of the tenants at the Toa Payoh North Industrial Estate - petitioned Mapletree last December to cut rents by 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
'They wrote recently and told me they will not accede to our request for the rent reduction,' said Mrs Lee Yoke Keng, director of UST Technology, a tenant there since 1974.
Like Mrs Lee, most tenants run small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have operated out of the former JTC property since as far back as the 1970s.
And like most export-driven manufacturing firms, a majority have reported a fall of 50 per cent to 80 per cent in sales, and are looking for ways to cut costs.
In response, Mapletree spokesman Shae Hung Yee told The Straits Times that it had considered the tenants' request but was unable to accede to the rental reduction. 'We cannot support such an across-the-board rental cut. We are running a business just like they are.'
Nonetheless, Mapletree - a wholly owned unit of Temasek Holdings - is trying various other means to help the tenants. These efforts, however, are cold comfort to SME bosses trying to manage declining order books and rising business cost amid increasing uncertainty.
The root of their frustrations: Had the property not been sold by JTC and taken over by Mapletree last July, they would have enjoyed 15 per cent rental rebates announced during this year's Budget.
As part of the Resilience Package, tenants of JTC, the Housing Board, the National Environment Agency and the Singapore Land Authority are entitled to a rental rebate of 15 per cent.
'I've been left out in the cold through no fault of my own,' said Mrs Lee. 'In the past, JTC's original objective was to provide a stabilising force in the rental market for industry but now we're under Mapletree, that becomes meaningless.'
