Occupancy Rate of Leased Hawker Centre and Wet Market at Aljunied Avenue 2

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) if he will provide an update on the current occupancy rate of the former leased hawker centre and wet market at Block 117, Aljunied Avenue 2; (b) when will the remaining stalls be available for bidding; and (c) how will NEA ensure that the current owner-turned-tenant hawkers not be left worse off, in terms of monthly rent, than those who will be bidding for the remainder stalls.

There are a total of 161 stalls at Block 117, Aljunied Avenue 2, hawker centre. This centre is one of 15 leased directly to the stallholders under the Stall Ownership Scheme in 1994. Ownership of these 161 stalls reverted to the Government when the lease for the centre expired in May 2014. The current occupancy rate at this centre is 54% and the 87 occupied stalls comprise 56 cooked food stalls, 11 lock-up stalls and 20 market slab stalls. The 74 unoccupied stalls will be released for open tender in October 2014.

Of the 161 stalls, 20 are paying subsidised rents and 67 are paying non-subsidised, that is, market rents. The subsidised rents range from $67 to $192 while the non-subsidised or market rents for the cooked food stalls range from $1,338 to $1,445, and that of market lock-up and slab stalls range from $225 to $696. These market rents are based on evaluation by the professional valuers.

The Government allocates vacant stalls in the hawker centres through open tender as this is the fairest method of allocation. The results of recent tenders will form the basis of valuation as undertaken by professional valuers in recommending the market rents for non-subsidised stalls at tenancy renewal. Existing stallholders may choose to tender for the vacant stalls if they believe that this will be advantageous to them, in terms of rent.