SINGAPORE - Plant nursery and farm tenants in Bah Soon Pah Road, in Yishun, who originally had to vacate their plots by Dec 31 last year will now have until May 31 to do so.
This will give them time to secure new sites and complete the moving process, said the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and National Parks Board (NParks) in a joint statement on Friday (Jan 7).
The affected nurseries had appealed to Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam and National Development Minister Desmond Lee for an extension of their leases while they arrange for the move to their new sites.
Mr Shanmugam and the two agencies met the affected tenants on Thursday and told them that the agencies had considered the situation and were able to give the tenants a five-month lease extension.
The Government had informed the tenants in July 2017 that the land had to be returned to the state when their leases expire.
SLA and NParks had also earlier provided the tenants with lease extensions of between one and three years to give them more time to plan their relocation.
The land is needed urgently to build Housing Board flats, said SLA and NParks, and any further extension beyond May will delay the development and delivery of the flats to about 2,000 future home buyers.
"There is a tight timeline for the building of those flats. This was also explained to the tenants," wrote the agencies in their statement.
They have been actively engaging and supporting the nurseries in their relocation, said the agencies.
To help the affected nurseries secure an alternative site early, NParks had told them of scheduled land tender launches in advance, and helped them in the land tender process.
NParks held business writing workshops to guide the nurseries on developing tender proposals, as well as a financial planning seminar on business planning and loans.
To date, five nurseries in Bah Soon Pah that are accredited under the Nursery Accreditation Scheme (NAS) have found replacement plots. Some nurseries also have existing alternative sites for their operations.
NAS aims to align nurseries' operations standards with NParks standards, and develop and maintain productive nurseries. Nurseries have to be NAS-accredited to be eligible for NParks land tenders.
To further support nurseries' infrastructure, NParks has installed water and electricity points and set up utility accounts at these replacement plots.
The board has also told the nurseries that they may start shifting their plant stock to these plots, even as agencies help to facilitate and expedite construction work on these sites.
"We understand the challenges the nurseries are facing, including financial and manpower issues, and the additional impact on their businesses brought about by Covid-19," wrote SLA and NParks in their statement, adding that the five-month extension will allow nurseries to continue with their Chinese New Year sales while moving ahead with their relocation plans.
