HAWKER STALLS OPERATING HALF A DAY (Figures)

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon asked the Minister for the Environment how many hawker stalls are presently opened for only part of a day on a permanent basis and whether he will consider allowing new applicants for hawker licences to share such stalls.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment (Mr Eugene Yap Giau Cheng) (for the Minister for the Environment): Sir, I am replying on behalf of my Minister.

Some cooked food hawkers who operate alongside a wet market do close their stalls in the afternoon because there are no customers in the afternoon when the wet market is closed. Some food stalls do not operate in the night for the same reason that there are no customers. My Ministry estimates that there are about 1,600 hawkers in these two categories who operate for part of the day only. This is about 18% of the total number of hawkers. I believe most stallholders will conduct business when there is business to be made.

My Ministry is not in favour of allowing two licensees to share a stall as this will give rise to disputes, say, which licensee is to be held responsible when the Ministry finds the stall dirty and insanitary. It is also not feasible nor is it practicable for two licensees to share a stall because the stall is small; there is not enough storage space to accommodate two sets of cooking utensils; it is not practical for the hawker to remove his appliances and utensils after he has finished his business and to bring these back to the stall when he resumes business the next day.

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (Yuhua): Sir, will the Ministry allow two licensed hawkers of the same trade to share a stall if they have mutually agreed to do so? The second question is: since the Ministry is not going to build any new hawker centre, in order to allow those who need to operate a food stall for a living, will the Ministry allow private developers to build hawker centres?

Mr Eugene Yap Giau Cheng: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in answer to the first question, the suggestion seems interesting enough. I will ask my officers to look into it. As regards the private development of hawker centres, there is already some arrangement of this sort. They are at Changi Hawker Centre, Scotts, Forum Galeria, and others. I do not see any reason why my Ministry should object to a group of private developers wanting to develop a hawker centre and run the business.