HAWKER CENTRES UPGRADING PROGRAMME

HAWKER CENTRES UPGRADING PROGRAMME:

(Construction and operation of temporary markets): 15.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources if his Ministry will take over the construction and operation of temporary markets in Hawker Centres Upgrading Programmes so that volunteer hawkers do not end up constructing the temporary markets and undertaking risks in money collections and running of the markets.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, the Government bears the full cost of the Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme (HUP) under a $420 million 10-year programme announced in 2001.

Under the HUP, centres are closed for upgrading and the period of closure depends on the extent of works. Based on previous HUP upgrading exercises, some stallholders prefer to take a break while others would like to continue their

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business. During the period of upgrading, the Government extends assistance to all stallholders affected, depending on their preference. For those in the first group, their rent for the period of upgrading is waived. For the latter group, NEA makes arrangements for them to operate temporarily at vacant stalls in other centres, subject to availability. In addition, stallholders are given an allowance of $1,000 each when they return to the upgraded centre, to defray part of their relocation expenses. Temporary hawker centres are not part of the package. Hence, the question of whether the Government plans to take over the building of such temporary centres does not arise.

The experience so far shows that not every hawker centre undergoing upgrading requires a temporary centre. Thus far, only 41% of the 63 markets/hawker centres that have been completed or are currently undergoing HUP upgrading have decided to construct temporary centres. The Government's policy has been to help stallholders secure the use of vacant state land for temporary centres at zero land cost. As for the physical construction of the centres, this has been left to the local grassroots organisations and Town Councils to work directly with the Hawkers Associations and Advisors.

My Ministry will continue to provide technical assistance where required to facilitate the building of temporary centres. My Ministry will also continue to give at least nine to 12 months' notice to Advisors and stallholders before the closure of a centre for upgrading. This will give sufficient time for those who plan to construct temporary centres to sort out funding arrangements among stallholders.

Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the grassroots organisations, Hawker Associations and

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Town Councils for playing important facilitative roles in the HUP programme.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I would like to ask if the Government can provide some more help since 41% of the stallholders opt to choose the temporary market as a way of extending their livelihood. Currently, I am involved in two HUP projects and the grassroots organisations, grassroots leaders and the stallholders themselves are advised to get involved in selecting a site together with Government's help, but they are also supposed to get the tender, collection of money, millions of dollars, and get involved in operating the market. I really hope that the Government can provide more help. I was even told that they are advised to start a private limited company to do this.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I would be most happy to ask my NEA officers to work with Kampong Glam division to sort out the problems. This is not new. We have done it in all our centres. I am sure we can sort out the problems. But ultimately, the responsibility must rest with the local community. I have just completed one HUP in my division. It is manageable. And other centres, like the one in Dr Lily Neo's constituency in Jalan Besar GRC, is quite huge and costing a lot of money. But she managed it all by herself. So I am sure we can sort out the problems. Let me get my NEA officers to work with you closely on this.

Dr Fatimah Lateef: Sir, I would like to ask the Minister if there are any plans by NEA to actually assist some of the stallholders in the older-generation hawker centres where business is really taking a downturn. They have problems and because of their lease they cannot return the stalls. I am referring to perhaps something like the RPS programme done

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by HDB or if there are any other options. Because lately, we have seen a lot of stallholders approaching us for assistance in terms of poor business.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, we look at this request on a case-by-case basis. There are people who decide to exit their business and, therefore, we can facilitate that. I would not want to give a definite answer but I would like to look into the case specifically. There may be an instance whereby we may want to give them an alternative site so that they can improve on their business. I think there are measures in place by NEA to help affected hawkers but, ultimately, we would leave to the hawker to decide what is the best outcome for him in terms of his business.