Drains and manholes are quite common around Singapore that we barely think twice about walking over them. But a man in Yishun had a serious fright when the metal cover of one gave through, just as he stepped on it.
In light of the incident, Nee Soon Town Council has reminded coffee shops in the area to be more proactive with their grease trap maintenance.
This is in order to prevent similar accidents from reoccurring in the future.
According to TODAY, 57-year-old resident Mr Colin Pereira was walking outside a coffee shop at Block 732 Yishun Ave 5 on Sunday (27 Dec) when he stepped onto a metal grease-trap cover and fell.
He then found himself in what looked to be a 1-metre deep pit, with “cuts and bruises on his right knee”. TODAY noted that he had also pulled his back muscle.
Without hesitation, passers-by hurried over to help, blocking off the area with chairs to prevent others from falling too.
While Mr Pereria called the police, they called the ambulance, and paramedics arrived soon after to bandage his knee.
After being alerted by a member of the public, Nee Soon Town Council acted swiftly, sending a team to cordon off the area right away, reports TODAY.
They subsequently informed the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and are helping the coffee shop to speed up repair works.
They’ve additionally sent letters to coffee shops in the vicinity, reminding them to check and maintain grease-trap covers regularly.
For those who may be unfamiliar, a grease trap collects oil from a food establishment’s wastewater, and stops them from entering our sewers.
The system is thus the responsibility of the coffee shop linked to it.
TODAY reports that the Town Council and coffee shop are in touch with Mr Pereira to address his concerns.
We hope that they’ll arrive at an amicable resolution to this unfortunate incident.
More importantly, let’s hope that safety protocols and maintenance works will be more stringent moving forward.
Like Mr Pereira told reporters, he was the victim this time, but it could be a helpless young child the next.
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Featured image adapted from BERITA Mediacorp courtesy of Colin Pereria, and Google Maps.
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