An elderly woman in Eunos had her living conditions vastly improved after volunteers spent hours cleaning out her flat.

Workers' Party (WP) member Yee Jenn Jong posted to Facebook on Mar. 27, saying that he was alerted of an elderly woman who was living in an "impossible condition" in Eunos Crescent.

Yee learned that the woman had scalded her leg and hand with hot water and couldn't walk.

"Terrible and unlivable mess"

While delivering food to her, volunteers found out that the woman had been living in what was described as a "terrible and unlivable mess".

The volunteers also noticed an unbearable stench.

To help her, WP Marine Parade volunteers were activated to help clean up the house on the afternoon of Mar. 27.

More than 3.5 hours to clean

In the post, Yee said that a Catholic welfare group were also alerted to the elderly woman's condition and had arrived a few hours earlier than the WP volunteers.

However, the welfare group could only clear the bedroom before they had to leave for other duties.

For the next three and a half hours, WP volunteers:

• Dug and scrapped the living room and kitchen floor, which had paper and cardboards fused to it.
• Removed dirt from the floor.
• Killed hundreds of cockroaches that infested the house.

Yee said that "fat lizards" jumped out at volunteers from behind doors and the refrigerator.

"The smell was so unbearable at the start we were literally choking as we went along," he added. 

10 trash bags worth of rubbish

By the end of the day, the volunteers had accumulated 10 trash bags worth of rubbish to be thrown out.

Here's what the corridor looked like as they washed the house to get rid of the dirt.

The rubbish had also contributed to the stream of dirt and debris along the corridor.

The team also alerted the town council to help with clearing the corridor.

According to Yee, the cleaner was so shocked by the mess that he took photos of the scene and called his supervisor for help.

The house looked much cleaner after hours of hard work:

A pest exterminator was also called in by the welfare group to rid the home of any unwanted pests.

Yee added that a little more cleaning will have to be done on another day.

Lianhe Wanbao, who visited the unit subsequently, noted that there were still some cockroaches and a lingering pungent smell.

In a separate post, Yee said that he will link up with the local community, welfare groups and volunteers to see how they can help the resident further, to ensure that the house does not return to its previous state.

You can see the full Facebook post here: