Debated in Parliament on 8 May 2024.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the share of stalls in NEA-operated hawker centres that are currently tenanted to (i) food and beverage chains, such as Koufu, Kopitiam and Timbre+, and (ii) independent operators; and (b) whether the Ministry has considered including in the price-quality method (PQM) for evaluation of tender bids, an increased weight for the number of residents that live within two kilometres of a hawker centre.
As of 31 March 2024, the National Environment Agency (NEA) manages a total of 119 hawker centres comprising more than 14,000 hawker stalls. Of these, 12 are Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs), comprising close to 500 stalls. Around 5% of stalls in SEHCs are operated by the respective SEHC operators.
In our selection of operators, NEA uses a Price-Quality model to evaluate the tenders for the management of new hawker centres. The evaluation criteria aim to ensure the success and viability of the centre, while balancing the interests and needs of hawkers and residents. Some key areas of our evaluation criteria include tenderers’ proposal on cost to stallholders, food affordability, food mix and variety, as well as initiatives to increase footfall to the hawker centre. The number of residents staying within two kilometres of the hawker centre is not a factor.
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