UPPER THOMSON ROAD HOUSING BOARD COMPLEX (Completion date and allocation of premises)

Mr Ang Nam Piau asked the Minister for Law and National Development if he will ascertain from the Housing and Development Board when the Upper Thomson Road Shopping Centre will be ready; and if, in the allocation of shophouses, etc., in the Centre, preference will be given to shop-keepers and residents affected by the widening of Upper Thomson Road and to hawkers living in that Constituency.

The Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Upper Thomson Road Housing Board complex will be completed by the end of this year. All the shopkeepers and hawkers affected by the road-widening scheme at Upper Thomson Road will be allocated shop-houses and stalls in the complex. Most of the residents affected by the scheme will be offered alternative accommodation at Toa Payoh because only a very small number of flats - in fact, 24 -will be built. It is not the practice of the Housing and Development Board to allocate hawker stalls to hawkers on a constituency basis, and only hawkers who are physically affected by the road-widening scheme will be given preference.