Stages 1 & 2 of Circle Line to open in first half of 2010

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 30 Aug 2009

The next phase of the Circle Line – Stages 1 and 2 – will start operations in the first half of 2010. Transport Minister Raymond Lim revealed this at a dialogue session in Bukit Panjang on Sunday.

Its exact opening date, however, will only be finalised after engineers complete the necessary tests.

The first five stations on the Circle Line opened for service on May 28. Even though ridership has not been as high as initially projected on the 5.7-kilometre stretch, this could change with the opening of 11 new stations next year.

Stage 1 of the Circle Line starts from Dhoby Ghaut, through MRT stations like Esplanade and Nicoll Highway, and ends at Stadium, while Stage 2 starts from Mountbatten, through interchange station Paya Lebar, and ends at Tai Seng.

The other 13 stations from Marymount to Harbourfront will be ready by 2011. Daily ridership of this 33.3-kilometre line is estimated to be close to half a million when it is fully operational.

As for buses, the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which is taking over the role of central bus network planner from year’s end, will consult grassroots leaders islandwide on how to improve the bus network from next month.

Mr Lim said: “Rather than do a major overhaul of the existing system which may actually lead to people being worse off, (we want to) get a feel of how residents want this because really, there is no right or wrong answer here. Different people have different needs and want it done differently.”

LTA hopes to complete this consultation exercise by end-March next year.

A Bukit Panjang resident, whose child has to endure long bus rides to school, said: “Because there are no direct buses, it takes three hours of travelling time, to and fro, from our constituency to Nanyang Technological University.”

Another resident has a grouse on the location of a new MRT station which is to be built in Bukit Panjang as part of the new Downtown Line.

“All of us are very happy about that, but the location isn’t very convenient because it’s not linked to the LRT and is far away from the interchange,” he said.

Responding to this, Mr Lim said there are technical constraints in the area, but the LTA is looking for a better solution.

What Bukit Panjang’s grassroots leaders hope to achieve in their talks with the LTA is to move the bus interchange from its current premises closer to the new MRT station of the Downtown Line.

This would then link all three transport nodes – MRT, LRT and buses – within a 70-metre radius. Currently, the proposed new MRT station is 120 metres away from the bus interchange.

Why are shophouse residents allowed to park for free on public roads?

Source : Straits Times – 29 Jul 2009

THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) should explain the following contradictory parking rules.

HDB residents who own cars purchase season parking tickets and park at designated public carparks provided by the Housing Board.

Private condominium residents who own cars pay their property management a monthly maintenance fee to park their cars at designated parking spaces in the compound. Residents in landed property own the land and can park in their properties.

However, in Joo Chiat Terrace, shophouse residents who own cars but do not have parking spaces in the vicinity are allowed to park on the street free of charge.

Why should these residents be given special privileges when there are many public carparks located just round the corner?

Some residents place rubbish bins or a traffic sign to block these spaces when they leave their premises so that only they can use the space when they return.

I am confused by such a practice, which the LTA apparently allows. My understanding is that a road is public property and should be made available to the public, or not at all, for parking.

What makes the situation worse is when maids working for the said owners wash the cars, thus endangering themselves and other road users.

Joo Chiat Terrace and the neighbouring roads need better parking solutions. One option is to build multi-storey carparks nearby.

Frances Phua (Ms)

LTA to spend S$43m on building cycling tracks in HDB estates

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 13 Feb 2009

More is going to be done to promote cycling in Singapore. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will spend S$43 million to design and construct dedicated cycling tracks next to pedestrian footpaths in HDB estates.

The first phase of this programme will be implemented in Tampines, Yishun, Sembawang, Pasir Ris and Taman Jurong.

Foldable bicycles will also be allowed on MRT trains and public buses during off-peak hours on weekdays and all-day on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from March 15.

The scheme follows an earlier six-month trial where an average of 70 foldable bicycles were brought on board trains and two foldable bicycles on board public buses each week.

LTA said eight out of 10 train commuters and about seven out of 10 bus commuters surveyed support the initiative.

Phase 1 of Circle Line to open on May 30

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 13 Feb 2009

Public transport ridership has been going up - and with it comes more crowding.

To ease the situation, the government announced that two rail projects - Jurong East Modification project and the North-South Line extension - are being brought forward, and 22 new trains being bought.

Still, with the changes only kicking in by 2011, the squeeze will still be on for a while.

Last year, public transport ridership spiked by 7.4 per cent - one of the fastest rates in years. And the overcrowding is being felt on MRT trains.

“MRT trains still suffer from an overcrowding problem. Has LTA (Land Transport Authority) reviewed the capacity? Is it possible to add more tracks on the existing lines, which are now overcrowded and have reached maximum capacity,” asked Cynthia Phua, MP for Aljunied GRC.

With 900 additional train trips per week added since last year, that is the best the system can do in terms of train frequencies, given the current constraints.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said the only way to increase capacity is through infrastructural changes.

Currently, there is a bottleneck at the Jurong East Interchange station. The whole system is slowed down as the train does a turnaround, because there is only a single platform for this.

LTA is now building a second platform so that two trains can turn around at the same time, with the project completion brought forward by a year to 2011.

22 new trains are also being bought. When they enter the system, it should lower waiting times to as low as 2 minutes at the busiest stretches.

Opening new lines will also ease the crunch. Phase 1 of the Circle Line will officially open on May 30. The new MRT line will open its first five stations - Bartley, Serangoon, Lorong Chuan, Bishan and Marymount.

The other stages of the Circle Line are expected to open from 2010 onwards, and they are expected to divert about 10-15 per cent of passenger traffic.

But such large infrastructure projects take time to kick in, with one of the main changes coming only in 2011. At the same time, public transport ridership is increasing, and may go up even further during the economic downturn. So the situation may just get worse before it gets better.

One other major initiative this year is the LTA taking over the role of central bus network planner. This will be a two-stage process - first, talking to the industry, operators and experts, and then to grassroots representatives.

The transport minister said: “One of our guiding principles is to avoid making any radical, big-bang-type changes to bus services. Commuters make more than three million trips on buses every day, and we are conscious that any change must be gradual. Otherwise, there will be mass confusion.

“Our approach instead is to identify any gaps in connectivity, try to plug them, and see where bus services can be streamlined to improve efficiency of the network.”

And it is only after this is done, can LTA look at how best to package the bus routes for competitive tendering.

Phase 1 of Circle Line to open on May 30

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 13 Feb 2009

Public transport ridership has been going up - and with it comes more crowding.

To ease the situation, the government announced that two rail projects - Jurong East Modification project and the North-South Line extension - are being brought forward, and 22 new trains being bought.

Still, with the changes only kicking in by 2011, the squeeze will still be on for a while.

Last year, public transport ridership spiked by 7.4 per cent - one of the fastest rates in years. And the overcrowding is being felt on MRT trains.

“MRT trains still suffer from an overcrowding problem. Has LTA (Land Transport Authority) reviewed the capacity? Is it possible to add more tracks on the existing lines, which are now overcrowded and have reached maximum capacity,” asked Cynthia Phua, MP for Aljunied GRC.

With 900 additional train trips per week added since last year, that is the best the system can do in terms of train frequencies, given the current constraints.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said the only way to increase capacity is through infrastructural changes.

Currently, there is a bottleneck at the Jurong East Interchange station. The whole system is slowed down as the train does a turnaround, because there is only a single platform for this.

LTA is now building a second platform so that two trains can turn around at the same time, with the project completion brought forward by a year to 2011.

22 new trains are also being bought. When they enter the system, it should lower waiting times to as low as 2 minutes at the busiest stretches.

Opening new lines will also ease the crunch. Phase 1 of the Circle Line will officially open on May 30. The new MRT line will open its first five stations - Bartley, Serangoon, Lorong Chuan, Bishan and Marymount.

The other stages of the Circle Line are expected to open from 2010 onwards, and they are expected to divert about 10-15 per cent of passenger traffic.

But such large infrastructure projects take time to kick in, with one of the main changes coming only in 2011. At the same time, public transport ridership is increasing, and may go up even further during the economic downturn. So the situation may just get worse before it gets better.

One other major initiative this year is the LTA taking over the role of central bus network planner. This will be a two-stage process - first, talking to the industry, operators and experts, and then to grassroots representatives.

The transport minister said: “One of our guiding principles is to avoid making any radical, big-bang-type changes to bus services. Commuters make more than three million trips on buses every day, and we are conscious that any change must be gradual. Otherwise, there will be mass confusion.

“Our approach instead is to identify any gaps in connectivity, try to plug them, and see where bus services can be streamlined to improve efficiency of the network.”

And it is only after this is done, can LTA look at how best to package the bus routes for competitive tendering.

LTA awards S$634.8 million deal on Marina Coastal Expressway to Samsung C&T

Source : Business Times - 26 Nov 2008

Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Wednesday awarded a S$634.8 million contract to Samsung C&T Corporation for the construction of the Marina East section of the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE).

This is the fifth contract awarded out of six major civil contracts called for the construction of the MCE.

The latest contract entails the design, construction and completion of approximately 800 m of twin-cell box vehicular tunnel structure and slip tunnel connection stubs for future entrance/exit ramps, LTA said in a news release.

Works under this contract, dubbed Contract 486, also include the construction of a ventilation building, trunk link sewers with associated manholes and land reclamation works at Marina East area.

On Nov 3, 2008, Samsung C&T Corporation was appointed the civil contractor for Contract 483 (Marina South II). Samsung C&T Corporation is currently also involved in the design and construction of the Cross Street Station as part of Downtown Line Stage 1.

LTA said construction works for the MCE are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2009 and slated for completion by 2013.

The MCE will be the tenth expressway in Singapore, a major part of the strategic island-wide road network to support the long-term growth of Singapore.

New expressway may cost up to $5b

THE new Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), which will link the new downtown to the western and north-eastern suburbs, is busting its budget in a big way.

With four out of six major contracts awarded, expenditure on the 5km-long underground and undersea road has already hit $3.1 billion - $600 million more than its $2.5 billion estimated price tag.

When the five-lane dual-carriageway expressway opens in 2013, it could cost between $4 billion and $5 billion, which will make it the costliest road here for years to come.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has attributed the cost overrun to a general spike in construction cost, and also to poor soil conditions that required strong temporary walls to prevent accidents.

A former LTA executive said: ‘The cost is staggering. Compared with it, the KPE is nothing.’

The 12km-long, largely underground Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) cost $142 million per km, nearly four times the $37.5 million spent on the Central Expressway in 1991.

Another expensive road to come is the 21km-long, $8 billion North-South Expressway to link Thomson to the city. To be completed in 2020, it is now expected to cost $381 million per km.

But should the MCE hit $5 billion, it would top them all, costing an unprecedented $1 billion per km.

The project is so massive that civil works have to be carved up into six portions, so that the builders are not overstretched.

Even so, industry players said each portion would pose a cash-flow challenge to builders. The civil contracts have so far been secured by Ssangyong Engineering & Construction, Samsung C&T, Penta-Ocean Construction and Sato Kogyo-Daelim Industrial - all foreign groups.

Elaborating on the cost spiral, LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said construction costs had gone up.

‘Given the poor soil conditions and the reclaimed land at the location where the MCE will run and the many engineering challenges, it is important that we put in place a more comprehensive and robust temporary wall system for the tunnel excavations.’

Construction industry observers said such beefed-up engineering requirements - mandatory since the Nicoll Highway collapse in 2004 - contribute to the higher costs.

The LTA declined to reveal the revised cost of the project, saying that doing so could influence bids for the remaining contracts.

The MCE joins the newly opened KPE to the Ayer Rajah Expressway. It links the new Marina South financial centre to the rest of Singapore.

Sentosa Gateway Tunnel to be built to ease outbound traffic to city

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 25 Jul 2008

A “Sentosa Gateway Tunnel” is set to be built so that motorists can circumvent the busy traffic in the Harbourfront area to get into town.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the tunnel will connect outbound traffic from Sentosa island directly to Kampong Bahru Road and Keppel Road.

It is part of plans to improve the road infrastructure to meet future demands of development in that area, which will also include Resorts World, due to open in 2010.

LTA and URA explain why hotel had to go

Source : Straits Times - 5 Jul 2008

WE THANK readers for sharing their views about the New 7th Storey Hotel. The Land Transport Authority carried out a comprehensive study and explored all options to construct the Downtown Line 1 (DTL1) and the new Bugis station. After exhausting all options, we concluded there was no alternative but to demolish the New 7th Storey Hotel building.

The new DTL1 has certain structural requirements.

First, the tunnels have to swing clear of the Rochor Flyover foundations. As a result, the tunnel alignment will inevitably head in the direction of the hotel.

Second, the current Bugis station is built on a diaphragm-walled foundation comprising deep and heavily reinforced concrete walls.

This limits where the DTL1 tunnels can pass underneath without compromising the existing station’s foundations. This also means the new station can be built only on the south side of Victoria Street. Hence there is no option but to demolish the building so the station can be constructed.

The conservation of buildings is assessed in the larger development context, taking into consideration long-term planning in the area where a building is located.

Land use needs to be optimised in land-scarce Singapore by balancing competing, and sometimes conflicting, needs for development and conservation, and to make painful decisions either way.

The land parcel where the hotel is sited will be amalgamated with the adjacent state-land parcel for future comprehensive redevelopment.

Doing so allows better integration between the station and the site’s future development, resulting in better urban-design plans and pedestrian networks.

We thank readers for their views and assure them that our engineers had exhausted all other options before settling on the current plan. In time to come, the Downtown Line, with its new Bugis station, as well as the other new developments in the area, will bring many benefits and add to the vibrancy of the area for generations of Singaporeans to enjoy.

Geoffrey Lim
Deputy Director, Media Relations
Land Transport Authority

Andrew David Fassam
Deputy Director, Urban Planning and Design
Urban Redevelopment Authority

Work begins on $130m Woodsville Interchange

Source : Business Times - 20 Jun 2008

To be completed in 2011, it has flyover and 3 road tunnels

CONSTRUCTION of the $130 million Woodsville Interchange began yesterday with a groundbreaking ceremony at Serangoon Road near the former Serangoon fire station.

The new interchange is the largest and most expensive road upgrading project that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is undertaking. When completed in end-2011, it will feature three road tunnels and a flyover to seamlessly connect Serangoon Road, Bendemeer Road, Upper Serangoon Road and Macpherson Road.

Road works: The Woodsville project is complex because of its proximity to the PIE flyover, the North-east MRT Line tunnels and the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System

These four roads and their connecting slip roads to and from the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) make up the Woodsville Interchange - a key artery linking the north-east sector to the city but whose current peak hour traffic volumes are close to capacity.

The groundbreaking ceremony was officiated by LTA chairman Michael Lim, who called the project one of the most complex that the authority has undertaken to date because of its close proximity to the existing PIE flyover, the North-east MRT Line tunnels and the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System.

‘We are operating at four levels - viaduct, surface road, tunnel and MRT - making for a truly complicated effort,’ he said.

The work includes the construction of a two-lane vehicular tunnel from Serangoon Road to Upper Serangoon Road; a two-lane vehicular tunnel from Upper Serangoon Road to Bendemeer Road; a one-lane vehicular tunnel from Macpherson Road to Bendemeer Road; and a one-lane flyover from the PIE slip road to Kallang Way.

In addition, the existing road junction will be reconfigured to improve the overall traffic flow.

‘When this massive project is finished in 2011, the result will be a much improved traffic situation,’ said Mr Lim.

‘But I wouldn’t be telling you the whole story if I did not also advise that this project will come with some temporary disruptions.’

To that, LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee added: ‘As outlined in our Land Transport Master Plan, we have lined up a series of infrastructural developments to the road network over the next 10 years.’

He said that ‘to bring these developments to fruition in our heavily built-up environment, we may have to tolerate some inconveniences, even with our best efforts to keep them to a minimum’.

New centre to update affected residents

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Source : Straits Times - 20 Jun 2008

CONSTRUCTION started yesterday on a massive road project, but the ground work - preparing the community for it - began much earlier.

Land Transport Authority (LTA) officers started fanning out to brief residents and shopkeepers in Potong Pasir and Geylang Bahru on the project late last year.

And in a first, the LTA will set up an information centre to keep affected residents informed of its progress.

LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said the move is part of a push to make the transport system people-centred.

Work on the $130 million project, called the Woodsville Interchange, is slated to be completed by end-2011.

It will see the construction of three tunnels to connect four roads - Serangoon Road, Upper Serangoon Road, Bendemeer Road and MacPherson Road.

A flyover will also link the Pan-Island Expressway to Kallang Way.

Until then, the LTA will operate its information centre, the Project Community and Control Centre - nattily dubbed PC3 - which will be up and running in a few months.

During its opening hours from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, residents will be able to drop by and view exhibits of the project and find out about how it is coming along.

PC3 will monitor traffic in the vicinity and ensure that congestion from accidents is cleared promptly.

A newsletter will go out to residents to keep them in the loop on the construction work.

Mr Yam also disclosed that the LTA will keep track of the North-East MRT Line, which sits 5m below the area where the road tunnels are to be built.

The Woodsville Interchange work is part of the projects worth $54 billion lined up to improve Singapore’s land transport network over the next decade or so.

LTA chairman Michael Lim said that while the projects have whipped up an extraordinary demand for construction resources, they have also opened up opportunities for construction companies.

The LTA has also publicised these projects overseas to broaden the supply of manpower and equipment and to ‘keep costs in check through competitive tendering’, he said.

Woodsville Interchange is to be built by Hong Kong’s Gammon Construction.

Referring to the noise residents can expect during the work, Mr Lim said: ‘LTA, together with grassroots leaders, has worked hard to advise everyone who will be affected of what to expect.’

Mr Ong Tang Kwee, 64, a retiree who lives near Potong Pasir MRT station, looks forward to the easing of traffic as promised by the project.

He said: ‘The traffic jams here can be quite bad. I now take up to 15 minutes just to clear Serangoon Road to get home.’

Road upgrading project to cut travel time from city to northeast by 60%

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 19 Jun 2008

The massive road intersection between Serangoon and MacPherson Roads will be upgraded at a cost of 130 million Singapore dollars and will be completed in 2011.

The Woodsville Interchange is one of the busiest in Singapore. In each hour during peak periods, over 8,500 vehicles ply the four arterial roads that form the intersection. The roads are Serangoon, Upper Serangoon, Bendemeer and MacPherson Roads.

As that’s close to full capacity, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it’s time for an upgrade.

Over the next three years, LTA will build a series of road tunnels.

One will join Serangoon Road to Upper Serangoon Road. Another links Upper Serangoon Road to Bendemeer Road. A third connects MacPherson Road to Bendemeer Road.

The first two tunnels are two-lane roads and the third is a one-lane road.

There will also be a flyover from the PIE slip road to Kallang Way.

These improvements will raise vehicle capacity by 30 per cent and cut travelling time in the area by 60 per cent.

Other works include rebuilding and adding more pedestrian overhead bridges and bus-stops in the area.

This road project is said to be one of the most complex ever undertaken by the LTA. One reason is because the three vehicular tunnels are going to be constructed just five metres above the existing northeast MRT line. This means that if digging is not done properly, the entire area will be compromised.

LTA has said that safety will be paramount and the site will be monitored round-the-clock.

Yam Ah Mee, Chief Executive, LTA, said: “We studied all the infrastructures, for example, at the major holding points for the PIE above ground. We also studied the types of soil conditions the different depths and orientations of the North-East Line tunnels, the other tunnels and the deep sewage tunnels.”

The LTA is aware of the inconveniences that come with construction of such scale.

So for the first time, it has set up a Project Community and Control Centre near the site to handle queries from those working and living nearby.

It’s known as PC-cube and it will be open 9am to 5pm on weekdays. It will showcase the project’s progress.

The centre will also monitor traffic flows at the interchange to ensure that traffic is moving at a satisfactory pace during the works. - CNA/vm

Family: We lost $290,000 over back lane

Source : New Paper - 17 Jun 2008

When trying to sell house, owners surprised to find out Government acquired their land

THEY were offered close to $2 million for their two-storey shophouse and the back lane behind it.

But while trying to retrieve an online copy of the title deed to the back lane, the Goh family found out that the tiny strip of land had been acquired by the Government in an island-wide exercise in April last year.

As a result, the buyer, a property developer, slashed $290,000 off the purchase price.

The family said they did not receive any letter informing them that the back lane had been acquired.

Neither did they get any compensation.

Ms Goh G K, 52,said: ‘If it wasn’t for the offer for our house and lane, we won’t have known the Government had taken back the lane.’

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the lane was acquired under the Street Works Act and no compensation is due for such acquisitions.

It said it had notified the owners by posting a copy of the declaration together with a plan at the site of the Gohs’ back lane on 27 Mar 2007.

But the Gohs felt the LTA should have informed them personally by sending a letter.

Ms Goh, her five siblings and their mother are joint owners of the property.

‘We didn’t want to sell the house or the lane initially due to the sentimental value as all of us grew up there,’ said Ms Goh, who’s in sales.

‘In the past, the door to the back lane was always open. It was our ‘backyard’, where our mum used to make bak changs (rice dumplings) and extended family gatherings were held.

‘But our mum said, ‘Better sell the property and distribute the proceeds’.

‘She had heard about family tussles over property in the news and didn’t want us to end up squabbling after she passed away.’

Ms Goh said her parents had bought the house and back lane for about $20,000 in 1950.

The 261 sq ft lane is located right behind their two-storey Rangoon Road shophouse and the unit next door. The family owns part of the back lane, stretching from behind their unit to the next door unit.

In March 1999, the family paid about $2,000 in legal fees, stamp duties and for a plan of the land area from the chief surveyor to renew the title deeds so as to include the names of all the siblings.

Before that, the title deeds had only the names of the mother and the eldest Goh sibling.

The family has a physical copy of the title deed to the back lane.

When they wanted to sell the property last October, they tried to get a copy online from the Singapore Land Authority’s (SLA) website to show the buyer.

They were unable to do so and realised something was amiss.

They called the SLA, which told them the lane had been acquired by the LTA.

Ms Goh said that when they called the LTA, an officer said the LTA was only required to post a notice in the government gazette as well as put up a letter of declaration at the site of the back lane to say it would be vested in the State.

The officer added that if no one raised any objections within a month, the LTA would take it as consent to proceed with the vesting of the lane.

The answer did not sit well with the Goh family.

‘Why didn’t the LTA inform us directly by sending us a letter? How much is the postage? Only 22 cents,’ said Ms Goh.

‘After all, they knew that our family had the title deed to the backlane.’

She said the LTA sent them a copy of the government gazette listing the back lanes that were vested during the exercise.

The Gohs’ back lane was on the list and the words ‘deed title’ written next to it.

This showed that the LTA knew her family held the title deed to the lane and should have contacted them, said Ms Goh.

The Gohs also insisted they did not see any letter of declaration near their back lane.

SEEK COMPENSATION

Ms Goh said: ‘We moved out about 10 years ago when everyone got married and started their own families.

‘But one of my brothers keeps items for his business in the house so he drops by almost every day.

She claimed: ‘He parks his car along the back lane and enters through the back door, but he did not see any notice pasted there.’

Ms Goh said the family has tried in vain to seek compensation from the LTA.

She said an LTA officer told them that there was ‘no commercial value to back lanes’.

But the Gohs pointed to a news article about a back lane off Jalan Bunga Raya in the Balestier area that was auctioned off on 10 Jan.

The article noted: ‘Knight Frank has indicated a price of about $750,000 to $800,000 for the back lane, which works out to $80 to $86 per square foot of potential gross floor area.’

A check by The New Paper found the Jalan Bunga Raya back lane eventually fetched $1.55m, or $465 per square foot.

In the Gohs’ case, the property developer was planning to put up a five-storey building on the site of their house and back lane.

The property agent told the family the developer had priced the back lane at more than $1,000 per square foot, the same as for the house.

Ms Goh said after they found out the back lane had been acquired by the Government, the property developer extended their option to sell in the hope that the family could work something out with the LTA.

The 1,660 sq ft house was finally sold for about $1.5m.

They didn’t want to reveal the exact amount.

She said the proceeds went to their mother who is in charge of disbursing the money.