LEVY ON HAWKER STALL HOLDERS IN HDB ESTATES

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for the Environment on what basis his Ministry decided to impose a levy of $10 on each hawker stall holder in Housing and Development Board estates irrespective of the business or trade of the stall holder and if he realizes that the rental paid by the stall holder to the HDB includes service and conservancy charges.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment (Mr Chor Yeok Eng) (for the Minister for the Environment): ( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, all hawkers, including those in Housing and Development Board premises, have so far been exempted from payment of a refuse removal fee under the Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Notification of 1970. Owing to the rising cost of refuse removal and disposal, hawkers will now have to bear part of the cost. We are aware that some hawkers generate less refuse than others because of their different business or trade. However, the $10 per month levy is very much lower than the $20 per month minimum charge on non-domestic premises for the daily refuse removal and disposal.

There are two stages in the collection of refuse from HDB Hawker Centres for disposal. First, the HDB collects and removes the refuse to a bin centre. The service and conservancy charges imposed by the HDB is partly to pay for this service and these charges will remain unchanged. Thereafter, the Ministry of the Environment collects the refuse from the bin centre for ultimate disposal.