Approaches for Management of Hawker Centres

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether there are plans to review the way hawker centres are catered for island-wide; and (b) whether it will be more efficient to have a single agency acquire and manage all hawker centres and HDB coffee shops so that Singapore can take a masterplan approach towards making provision for access to good and affordable meals for all Singaporeans.

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: The National Environment Agency (NEA) works closely with other agencies on the planning of new hawker centres by considering various factors, including residential catchments, availability of comparable food and beverage options and complementary facilities in the vicinity, as well as land availability and compatibility with adjacent land use.

The Government will continue to plan for hawker centres and coffee shops holistically and is committed to ensuring that these places continue to provide affordable cooked food options for Singaporeans.