SINGAPORE - Social enterprises will soon be invited to submit proposals to the National Environment Agency (NEA) to manage a new hawker centre co-located with Ci Yuan Community Club in Hougang, said the agency in a statement on Friday.
The hawker centre is one of the 10 new centres announced by the Government in October 2011 and is expected to open in the first half of next year. It will have 40 cooked food stalls and 640 seats. It will also be equipped with tray return facilities, natural ventilation and family-friendly features such as child-friendly toilet facilities.
Separately, there will be a new hawker centre at Block 208B New Upper Changi Road, and this replaces the existing one at Block 207 Upper Changi Road at Bedok Town Centre. It will start operations on Nov 15.
NTUC Foodfare Co-operative, a social enterprise, will manage the Bedok hawker centre on a not-for-profit basis. NEA said it will work closely with Foodfare in implementing a new management model. Foodfare is expected to fully manage the centre from March 1 next year.
To keep food prices affordable, NEA will keep stall rentals stable. Subsidised stallholders will pay rentals of $320 per month. Non-subsidised stallholders will pay the prevailing market rent, which ranges from $2,140 to $2,360.
