SINGAPORE: Five new hawker centres will be built in housing estates as part of ongoing efforts to improve food accessibility and affordability, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) said on Tuesday (Mar 4). 

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong ​announced during his Budget speech last month that up to S$1 billion (US$740 million) will be spent over the next 20 to 30 years to upgrade existing hawker centres and build new ones to meet evolving needs.

The ministry did not reveal the locations of the five upcoming hawker centres but stated that they aim to better serve residents in both new and existing estates.

These are in addition to the 20 hawker centres previously announced in 2011 and 2015. Since 2011, 14 hawker centres have opened in newer housing estates, such as One Punggol, Bukit Canberra, Jurong West and Woodleigh Village.

Two more – in Bukit Batok West and Punggol Coast – will open this year. The first, located at 469 Bukit Batok West Avenue 9, will have 22 cooked food stalls and more than 400 seats, while the one at 84 Punggol Way will have 40 cooked food stalls and over 680 seats.

As part of Singapore's 60th birthday celebrations, a one-time rental support of S$600 per stall will be given to cooked food and market stallholders in hawker centres and markets managed by the government or government-appointed operators. 

This will be disbursed progressively from April to registered stallholders with active tenancies as of Feb 18, 2025.

S$10 MILLION TO IMPROVE COFFEE SHOP TOILETS

Separately, the government will provide two grants of S$5 million each for coffee shops to improve their toilets.

These grants follow recommendations from the Public Toilets Taskforce, which was set up last year as part of Singapore's Year of Public Hygiene initiative. 

The Coffeeshop Toilet Renovation Grant will help operators update and improve the design, features and ease of maintenance of their toilets. It also encourages them to meet the Happy Toilet Programme certification, a benchmark developed by the Restroom Association (Singapore) for well-designed and clean coffee shop toilets.  

Operators can apply for funding from the National Environment Agency (NEA) to cover up to 95 per cent of their toilet renovation costs, capped at S$50,000 per coffee shop.

The Coffeeshop Toilet Deep Cleaning Grant will support operators in incorporating thorough deep cleaning into their regular maintenance. Deep cleaning can remove odour and deep persistent stains, which may not be easily addressed during general cleaning, the task force said.

Under this scheme, NEA will fund up to 95 per cent of a two-year deep cleaning contract, capped at S$25,000 per coffee shop. Successful applicants will also receive complimentary on-site toilet cleaning training for their in-house cleaners.

More details on the two grants will be released later this year.

A nationwide study conducted by the Singapore Management University found that coffee shop toilets have become dirtier over the past year, consistently ranking below those in shopping centres, MRT stations and hawker centres since 2016.

While coffee shops are privately-operated commercial premises, their toilets are accessible to both patrons and non-patrons, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng said in parliament. 

"This is particularly important in an ageing population, as seniors may have more difficulties in managing bladder and bowel control," he added.

Instead of building public toilets in the community, the government could tap coffee shops being "natural gathering points" for residents, he added. 

NEA and the Singapore Food Agency ramped up inspections on public toilets last year, conducting nearly 19,000 checks. This resulted in about 1,300 enforcement actions taken against premises owners or managers for failing to meet cleanliness standards.