[Parliament]The government will build a number of five hawker centers to renovate and rebuild some hawker centers

Warming will lead to hotter and hotter weather in the future, and as the population ages, the number of older diners will also increase. To meet the ever-changing needs, the government will allocate up to 1 billion yuan to renovate and rebuild some hawker centers in the next 20 or 30 years, and build five new hawker centers.

The government launched the Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme in 2001 and renovated or rebuilt nearly 100 hawker centres between 2001 and 2013.

Dr. Xu Baokun, Senior Minister of Government of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Environment and the Ministry of Human Resources, announced the launch of an upgraded hawker center renovation plan while debating the Ministry of Sustainable Expenditure Budget on Tuesday (March 4), with the goal of building old hawker centers built before 2011 in mature towns, creating a vibrant community space and enhancing the center facilities to meet future needs.

The National Environment Agency will make more public space by improving the configuration and layout of stalls, and plan with agencies such as the Housing Development Bureau and the Urban Redevelopment Bureau to make full use of these spaces to host community events and attract visitors.

Depending on the population needs of the area where the hawker center is located and whether the venue is suitable, the renovated hawker center may also include elevators, escalators and more spacious walkways to facilitate the elderly, mobility-constrained and families pushing baby strollers.

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In response to climate change, the Environment Agency will explore options that can promote air circulation, such as installing high-volume and low-speed fans, and growing more plants around hawker centers and roofs.

There are 120 hawker centers and markets in the local area, and the authorities usually repair and paint every six to eight years. The projects covered by this type of project are relatively basic, including painting, repairing roofs, replacing electric lights and notice boards.

At the end of last year, the Environment Agency upgraded the facilities of Geylang Sine Market and Centres and Cooked Food Centres through the Hawker Centres Transformation Programme. Compared with repair and painting projects, the authorities have piloted new projects such as re-planning of seats, installing large fans, and decorating toilets to make them easier to clean.

Authorities have learned from the transformation plan and will now advance renovation projects in more hawker centers through the upgraded renovation plan.

“While the upgrade and renovation works are enough to allow most hawker centers to cope with future needs, some older hawker centers in mature towns may need to be rebuilt,” the Environment Agency said in a statement.

The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment Agency will work closely with the organisations responsible for planning to identify these hawker centres and combine the reconstruction projects with other development plans in the district to reduce the impact on vendors and residents.

The government announced earlier that it would build 20 new hawker centers. Since 2011, 14 new hawker centers have been built and opened. Five more will be built in the future, and the specific locations are to be studied.

“We plan to build five more hawker centers to ensure that residents who live in areas with fewer food choices can also buy affordable and delicious hawker food,” said Xu Baokun.

Two new hawker centers will be opened this year. The center of Bukit Batossi will have 22 deli food stalls and more than 400 seats; the Punggol Coast hawker center will have 40 deli food stalls and more than 680 seats.