By Joanne Chan | Posted: 06
March 2012 1801 hrs
SINGAPORE: From next month, new hawker stallholders
will no longer be allowed to sublet or assign their stalls to
another person.
Senior Minister of State for Environment and Water Resources, Grace
Fu, said hawker stalls were set up to provide Singaporeans with an
opportunity to run their own small business. As such, stalls should
be personally run and not be used for profiteering.
Speaking in Mandarin during the debate on her ministry's budget in
Parliament, Ms Fu said existing stallholders will have a three-year
grace period to adjust to these new conditions.
She added that controlling subletting and assignment of stalls will
help to stabilise rentals, reduce costs for stallholders and
achieve food price stability.
The issue of hawkers transferring their stall tenancies for a high
price has been an ongoing concern among customers, who worry about
the impact on food prices. The practice is believed to have started
around 10 years ago.
Channel NewsAsia reported in November 2011 that at least four
stalls at a hawker centre in Kovan have changed hands for fees
ranging between S$250,000 and S$300,000.
However, Ms Fu acknowledged that it is not easy for a stallholder
to operate a stall for a full day. Thus, the National Environment
Agency (NEA) will permit joint tenancies, and do away with the
requirement that each stall can only have a single tenant.
NEA will also not set a reserve rent when tendering out vacant
stalls. This means that even if the bidding price is below market
price, NEA will allocate the vacant stall to the highest bidder as
long as there are competitive bids.
Ms Fu also announced the locations where new hawker centres will be
built within the next five years. They are Bukit Panjang, Yishun,
Pasir Ris, Jurong West, Admiralty, Tampines and Punggol.
She said: "In the year ahead, we will be consulting closely with
members and grassroots on the new centres that will be built. Their
design and development should be informed by the views of the
people they will serve as hawker centres are more than just places
for affordable food.
"They are also important common spaces that cultivate the sense of
community upon which environmental stewardship depends. Like
schools, parks, playgrounds and community centres, they are places
where Singaporeans from different walks of life encounter one
another, share the same space and experience things
together."
-CNA