New hawker centre in Punggol among 3 set up to support hawkers and sustain hawker trade
Punggol Coast Hawker Centre is set to open in 2024, alongside new hawker centres in Anchorvale and Woodleigh, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) announced on Monday (4 March).
Located at 84 Punggol Way, the new centre will have 40 food stalls and over 680 seats and open in the second half of 2024.
Source: NEA
Meanwhile, the Anchorvale and Woodleigh hawker centres will tentatively open in the middle of the year.
New hawker centres to provide affordable food options
The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) released a statement enforcing their continued efforts to enhance hawker centres.
“Patrons of these new hawker centres will be able to look forward to a good variety of affordable food options,” NEA stated.
“They will also be able to enjoy a comfortable dining environment with features such as high ceilings for good natural ventilation and spacious seating areas.”
Anchorvale Hawker Centre will have 36 cooked food stalls and 650 seats at 339 Anchorvale Road.
Source: NEA
Meanwhile, Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre, at Block 202C Woodleigh Link, will include 39 cooked food stalls and over 800 seats.
18 existing hawker centres will undergo revamps in 2024
MSE and NEA also announced their plans to refurbish 18 existing hawker centres this year.
Repairs and Redecoration (R&R) work on respective hawker centres will commence at least one month after an announcement on the NEA website.
“Periodic restoration of hawker centres are carried out every six to eight years to keep them in a good physical condition, so that we can provide a pleasant dining environment for patrons,” MSE and NEA said.
Authorities will step up public toilet cleanliness enforcement
As announced during the Committee of Supply Debate 2024, NEA said it will “adopt a more targeted approach” to maintaining public spaces with stepped-up enforcement, greater use of technology, and community involvement, it said in a statement.
On the agenda as well are public toilets.
“Cleanliness of public toilets remains challenging, and we can collectively do more to enhance levels of cleanliness and hygiene, to provide a safe and healthy environment for all,” NEA said.
To that end, MSE will set up a Public Toilets Taskforce to review ways to improve cleanliness of poorer-performing public toilets. Particular targets include toilets at coffeeshops and hawker centres.
It will also develop measures to improve hygiene standards at public toilets.
The Taskforce will be co-chaired by Baey Yam Keng, who is Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment, and Andrew Khng, Chairman of the Public Hygiene Council
MSE and the Singapore Food Agency said they will step up enforcement on toilet cleanliness as well as ensure operators take responsibility and maintain toilets properly.
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Featured image adapted from National Environment Agency.
