VACANT HAWKER STALLS IN UNPOPULAR LOCATIONS

Mr Chew Heng Ching asked the Minister for the Environment what plan his Ministry has with regard to hawker stalls left vacant for many months in unpopular locations.

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

Sir, where the number of vacancies in a particular hawker centre is exceptionally high due to its declining popularity, the Ministry will look into the feasibility of decanting the remaining stallholders and phase out the centre. In multi-level centres where the number of vacancies is high, the Ministry will consider freeing one level by regrouping the hawkers into the more popular levels and convert the free level for other appropriate use.

Mr Chew Heng Ching (Kaki Bukit): Sir, I have three supplementary questions. Firstly, may I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether he is aware that many families have been allotted the stalls on hardship ground? They have borrowed money to renovate the stalls and start off a business but only to discover that it is a total failure after a few months. Secondly, in the light of this, would it not be better not to offer stalls to these hardship cases? Thirdly, will the Ministry consider tendering out these vacant stalls?

Mr Eugene Yap Giau Cheng: Mr Speaker, Sir, we are aware that there are people who take up stalls but do not make a success out of it. But I do not think that is reason enough to totally stop offering stalls to hardship cases or to people who want to operate a hawker stall as a business. We are actually keeping another channel of assistance open to people who look to the Government for some kind of assistance. It is like the Employment Service in the Labour Ministry. You can have thousands of jobs available but only a few takers. In this case, we have got some stalls but also a few takers. But at least the options are there and they can choose whatever they want. Of course, in this particular case, he is going into a hawker business which is setting up a small business enterprise. And I would presume that he would have done some calculations and take the necessary calculated risk.

In the case of tendering these stalls, we can consider it. I do not think there is any hard and fast rule to say that we cannot tender these stalls. But if you want my immediate reaction to it, it is only bringing the problem from one area to another area. But as long as the stalls remain vacant for one reason or another, it will remain vacant, whether you tender them out or not.