SINGAPORE - Choa Chu Kang residents craving tasty and affordable meals close to home can look forward to two new hawker centres in the years to come.

There are currently no hawker centres in Choa Chu Kang town, with the closest being Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre, about 3km away.

One of the two centres had already been announced in 2015 by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, as part of a broader announcement then on new hawker centres to be located in new estates or existing ones that are relatively under-served.

The second one was announced by the National Environment Agency in a statement on Sunday morning (Sept 22).

At Yew Tee Town Day on Sunday, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad said: "We're going to have another hawker centre in Choa Chu Kang town centre and that will be done after the Jurong Region Line construction works are completed in 2026."

The hawker centre will be part of a mixed-use development, said the Choa Chu Kang GRC MP, adding that residential, commercial or other forms of integrated development are being considered.

These new hawker centres are among the 20 centres either completed or still in the pipeline since the Government said in 2011 that it would resume the building of new hawker centres.

To date, seven of the 20 new hawker centres have been completed and are in operation, said the NEA.

The previously announced Choa Chu Kang hawker centre will be part of the Yew Tee Integrated Development, estimated to be ready in the second half of 2026.

The development will be located at the current Hardcourt @ Yew Tee Close, and include a community club, public housing, polyclinic and kidney dialysis centre, along with the hawker centre.