We refer to Mr Matthew Chua's letter (Small working space constrains hawkers, Feb 2).

Our existing hawker centres, which were mostly built in the 1970s and early 1980s, have seen several improvements made to them.

During the Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme carried out from 2001 to 2013, the National Environment Agency (NEA) improved the amenities of the hawker centres to enhance the environment for both stallholders and patrons.

Where possible, excess vacant stalls were demolished and the layout of the centre was reconfigured to cater for bigger stalls and wider passageways, although there were inherent space and structural constraints at some centres.

Mr Chua suggested making available the option for a stallholder to take over an adjoining vacant stall, so that the stallholder can hack down the wall and have more working space.

Under NEA's Stall Tender Scheme, an individual can rent a maximum of two cooked food stalls, and if they are adjoining, the stallholder can apply to NEA to remove the wall.

However, such stalls are subject to availability and dependent on the bids received when stalls are released for tender.

As the stall occupancy of our hawker centres is high, at more than 90 per cent, there is no deliberate policy for hawkers to secure two adjoining stalls, to be fair to other bidders and ensure that we have sufficient stalls to meet demand.

For the seven new hawker centres built since 2015, and replacement hawker centres arising from a redevelopment of an existing old hawker centre, NEA has provided larger stall spaces, which are up to 70 per cent larger than stalls in older hawker centres.

The agency has also provided for more circulation space in the dining areas.

NEA will continue to look into infrastructural enhancements to make our hawker centres more conducive for hawkers to work in and patrons to dine in.

Chua Yew Peng

Group Director, Infrastructure and Engineering Group

National Environment Agency