Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Evaluation of Stall Tender Bids

Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Evaluation of Stall Tender Bids by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the share of stalls in NEA-operated hawker centres that are currently tenanted to (i) food and beverage chains such as Koufu, Kopitiam and Timbre+ and (ii) independent operators; and (b) whether the Ministry has considered including in the price-quality method (PQM) for evaluation of tender bids, an increased weight for the number of residents that live within 2km of a hawker centre.

Answer:

1 As of 31 Mar 2024, the National Environment Agency (NEA) manages a total of 119 hawker centres comprising more than 14,000 hawker stalls. Of these, 12 are Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs), comprising close to 500 stalls. Around 5% of stalls in SEHCs are operated by the respective SEHC operators.

2 In our selection of operators, NEA uses a Price-Quality model to evaluate the tenders for the management of new hawker centres. The evaluation criteria aim to ensure the success and viability of the centre, while balancing the interests and needs of hawkers and residents. Some key areas of our evaluation criteria include tenderers’ proposal on cost to stallholders, food affordability, food mix and variety, as well as initiatives to increase footfall to the hawker centre. The number of residents staying within 2 km of the Hawker Centre is not a factor.