The HDB has called for a major study on the wholesale centre's future viability. It is owned and managed by HDB through an agent and has 1,405 units comprising stalls, shops, cold rooms and offices. According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), some 30 per cent of fruit importers and 60 per cent of vegetable importers have their warehouses, cold stores and distribution sites there.

At the wholesale centre yesterday, sellers told the same story: Their sales have been on the decline since the Sars outbreak in 2003 when the market was shut for two weeks after some sellers fell sick.

Some walk-in customers stayed away and never returned, while some businesses found alternative sources by liaising directly with suppliers, said sellers. Most who spoke to The Straits Times said sales had dropped by half since then.

Madam Tan Ai Keow, 55, who has been selling vegetables at the market since it opened in 1983, said: 'Times are bad. The market has no business.' 

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