More than 31 hawker centres get SG Clean approval for maintaining hygiene standards during Covid-19 crisis

SINGAPORE — As of March 30, more than 3,700 hawker and market stalls and 31 hawker centres have been certified with the SG Clean quality mark, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said.

The SG Clean mark was introduced earlier last month to ensure that establishments meet the baseline of good industry practices due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The agency added that during this period, stallholders have been stepping up cleaning efforts and carrying out the recommended procedures to upkeep good public hygiene.

NEA and consumer goods company Unilever, which will be distributing 14,000 care packages to hawkers across the country together, said in a joint media statement: “(The hawkers have been) working tirelessly so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy our favourite hawker food.”

The care packages that hold cleaning products among other items will be distributed to all stallholders located across the 114 hawker centres in Singapore. 

NEA said that the SG Clean stamp is meant to show the “rigorous measures” that have been taken by the stallholders and cleaning contractors to raise hygiene standards and transform the cleanliness levels at these food centres.

It also aims to raise public confidence in the cleanliness of publicly accessible venues with high human traffic.

On Thursday, NEA also said that stallholders at hawker centres managed by the agency and its appointed operators will receive three months of rental waivers as part of the Resilience Budget as announced in Parliament last week.

The waiver will be a minimum sum of S$200 a month.

Stallholders will get the rental waiver progressively: A monthly 50 per cent rental waiver from March to June and a monthly 25 per cent rental waiver from July to October, NEA said.

This three-month waiver includes the one-month rental waiver that was earlier announced under the Stabilisation and Support Package during Budget 2020 in February.

WHAT CARE PACKAGES HOLD

Each of the 14,000 care packages that will be distributed to stallholders contain cleaning products, which can be used for cleaning of fixtures and food preparation areas as well as washing of cooking equipment and crockery.

It includes a voucher that can be used to buy items ranging from cleaning products to cooking ingredients and condiments, NEA and Unilever said.

They added that cleaning guides with easy-to-follow instructions are given so that stallholders can “achieve good cleaning results from the cleaning products”.

“To tailor to the cleaning needs of stallholders, the cleaning products will also vary between the care packages provided to stallholders of cooked food stalls and those of non-cooked food stalls,” NEA and Unilever said.

A thermometer and a log book have been included to help hawkers keep track of their temperature, monitor their general health status, and give confidence to their patrons of their stalls.

Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources, said that hawkers play an essential role in keeping Singapore running by working hard to provide good and affordable food for Singaporeans.

“We would like to remind hawkers to take care of themselves and continue to monitor their temperatures regularly.

“Patrons can help, too, by being socially responsible and practising safe distancing, such as sitting on unmarked seats and maintaining a 1m gap when queueing up at both the hawker centres’ cooked food and market stalls,” Dr Khor said.