Andrew, 57, was making his way home at 10am on December 27 when he walked across a covered metal lid next to a coffeeshop, he was holding two birdcages as well.

Unlike most days, however, the lid gave way.

Andrew fell three to four feet, and suffered a cut on his right knee.

Onlookers helped him out of the hole, while others placed chairs around it to prevent people from walking across the hole.

Andrew tells Mothership that he was concerned that a child could have walked over the lid, and hoped the town council could look into it.

Grease trap

Responding to queries from Mothership, a Nee Soon town council representative says the "defective metal cover belongs to a grease trap serving the coffeeshop at Blk 732".

The facility is supposed to be maintained by the coffeeshop owner, according to the representative.

The Town Council was alerted to this issue by member of public on December 27, 2020. A team was deployed to cordon off the area immediately.

"Town Council is in touch with the coffeeshop to expedite the repair works and alerted Housing Development Board (HDB) on incident. We have informed the resident involved and we understand that the coffeeshop is also reaching out to him.

In view of public safety, Town Council will be sending out a letter to all coffeeshops in Nee Soon town to remind them to conduct regular checks and maintenance to their grease trap covers."

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