New hawker centres to open in Bukit Batok West, Punggol Coast

New and improved hawker centres, a national push to keep indoor temperatures at or above 25 deg C, and vouchers to offset the cost of efficient home appliances are among the national initiatives that Singaporeans can look forward to.

- Chin Hui Shan and Shabana Begum

The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) gave updates on some of these initiatives on March 4. Here are the highlights:

1 TWO NEW HAWKER CENTRES TO OPEN IN 2025; UP TO $1 BILLION TO BE INVESTED IN UPGRADING AND BUILDING OF HAWKER CENTRES

Two new hawker centres will open in Bukit Batok West and Punggol Coast in the first half of 2025, while five more hawker centres will be built to serve residents in existing or new estates in years to come, said the MSE and the National Environment Agency (NEA).

It is not known where the five new hawker centres will be.

The Bukit Batok West Hawker Centre at 469 Bukit Batok West Avenue 9 will have 22 cooked-food stalls and more than 400 seats, while the Punggol Coast Hawker Centre at 84 Punggol Way will have 40 cooked-food stalls and more than 680 seats.

To upgrade ageing hawker centres and build new ones, the MSE and the NEA will invest up to $1 billion over the next 20 to 30 years under the Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme 2.0. The first iteration of the programme took place more than 20 years ago to upgrade or rebuild almost 100 centres, said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said: "Over time, as our people's needs evolve, our hawker centres have to be revitalised and future-ready. With climate change, an ageing population, rapid urban developments and shifting hawker profiles, patrons and hawkers have new expectations."

She added: "Hawkers also require more productive and innovative solutions to meet their business aspirations and tackle operational challenges."

Under the programme, hawker centres will be upgraded to become more vibrant, accessible and climate-resilient.