COVID-19: Cleaning fees to be subsidised by NEA in support for stallholders at hawker centres

SINGAPORE: More than 6,000 cooked food stallholders across 114 hawker centres in Singapore will not have to pay for table-cleaning and centralised dishwashing services, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Tuesday (Apr 7). 

This move is made in support for hawkers during the nationwide safe-distancing measures to guard against COVID-19, the agency said in a press release.

As part of the measures that will be in place from Apr 7 to May 4, patrons are not allowed to eat or drink at the dining areas of hawker centres.

“Our hawkers are an important component of the hawker culture in Singapore,” said Senior Minister of State for Health and the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor.

Dr Khor added: “Singaporeans can also do their part by continuing to make cooked food purchases through food deliveries or take-outs. When opting for take-outs, (customers) should bring their own clean container as this will help to reduce our use of disposable packaging.”

READ: COVID-19 Resilience Budget: ‘Landmark’ S$48 billion package to tide Singapore through ‘unprecedented’ crisis

NEA will also give stallholders in the hawker centres it manages three months of rental waiver, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said in announcing Singapore’s second COVID-19 assistance package, dubbed the Resilience Budget.

The disbursement of the three-month waiver will be brought forward, NEA said.

Stallholders who were previously entitled to a 50 per cent rental waiver in March will now receive a full waiver from April to May and a 50 per cent rental waiver in June, with a minimum waiver of S$200 per month.

About 14,000 stallholders are expected to benefit from this three-month rental waiver.

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