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Potong Pasir hawker centre selected for upgrading
By Ong Dai Lin | Posted: 13 April 2010 0031 hrs
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SINGAPORE : The only hawker centre managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) in the two opposition wards has been selected for upgrading. While the move has set some wondering about a "vote for upgrading" ploy, a political analyst downplayed the notion.
"Hawker centre upgrading was never part of the 'vote for upgrading' package and has always been distinguished from public housing upgrading," said assistant law professor Eugene Tan of the Singapore Management University.
Located at Toa Payoh Lorong 8, the hawker centre cum wet market will be closed for 11 months from November. An NEA spokeswoman told MediaCorp that some of the upgrading works will include replacement of the plumbing and sanitary system, re-roofing and installation of an exhaust system.
The layout of the new hawker centre has yet to be finalised as the number of stallholders resuming business at the upgraded centre has not been confirmed, added the spokeswoman. She also said each stall owner who returns to the market after the upgrading will receive a S$1,000 allowance to help offset the costs of setting up the new stall.
There are currently 80 cooked food stalls and 134 market stalls in the hawker centre cum wet market. The NEA manages 109 hawker centres and to date, 84 have been upgraded under its Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme. The scheme, started in 2001, aims to upgrade markets and hawker centres within 10 years.
Market stall owners told MediaCorp they were informed of the upgrading plans last month. Most said they were happy the old market would be getting a facelift. Mr Wong Yee, a pork seller, said: "There are a lot of pests - like cockroaches and birds - in the market. A customer of mine was once bitten by a rat that ran over her feet when she was shopping here."
Some hawkers expressed worries over the lengthy closure. Ms Lee Buay Huay, who sells 'bak kut teh', said: "We will lose our income and we will have to start all over again if we go elsewhere to set up a stall." Last July, the government announced that the two opposition wards, Potong Pasir and Hougang, had been selected for lift upgrading. The two wards had been told after the 2006 General Election that they would be last in line for the upgrade.
MediaCorp understands there is no update on the lift upgrading progress in the two wards, as it usually takes a year to poll residents on the plans. Prof Tan said: "I think this upgrading (of the Potong Pasir hawker centre) also reflects the government's realisation that the 'vote for upgrading' method doesn't really work anymore. The voter is not going to be so easily swayed."
- CNA/al
