Shop owners and hawkers in Bukit Merah will receive S$250 in cash assistance after a spike in tuberculosis (TB) cases in early January affected their businesses.
Member of Parliament (MP) Eric Chua highlighted that the S$250 is a one-off grant to support those affected.
The beneficiaries include stall owners at ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre, as well as those with shops at Blocks 1, 2, and 7 Jalan Bukit Merah.
Source: Google Maps
The beneficiaries can expect to receive their S$250 cash by the end of this month.
Mr Chua told Channel NewsAsia (CNA) that the measure was born out of a collaboration between the Queenstown Citizens Consultative Committee and the Central Singapore Community Development Council.
Source: Eric Chua on Facebook
He added that the move demonstrates how the Queenstown grassroots organisations stand in solidarity with the affected business owners.
Additionally, Mr Chua has since discussed with authorities the possibility of implementing rental and conservancy rebates.
TB cases first emerged in Bukit Merah back in 2022, with a cluster of seven TB cases linked to Block 2 Jalan Bukit Merah.
In early January this year, Bukit Merah once again saw a spike in cases.
This prompted the Ministry of Health (MOH) to conduct TB screenings at Blocks 1 and 3 Jalan Bukit Merah, as well as ABC Brickworks.
Afraid they would be infected, many residents around the area started to avoid patronising the hawkers and shops in the area, causing businesses there to suffer.
On 14 Jan, Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung uploaded a Facebook post sharing about the meal he had at ABC Brickworks.
In his caption, he reassured individuals that they would not contract TB just by eating there.
Minister Ong stressed that TB is instead spread through “close and prolonged exposure”, which could span from days to weeks.
Notably, he also expressed his disappointment upon seeing that the market was “markedly quieter than before”.
Thus, he implored members of the public to continue supporting the hawkers.
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Featured image adapted from Streetdirectory.
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