The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday passed the outline of a government-initiated bill regulating the operation of the city’s wet markets, which proposes that residents who want to run a stall will have to bid for a licence, a change from the current practice in which available stalls are simply allocated through a lucky draw.
Secretary for Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon introduced the outline of the bill during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.
The city’s nine wet markets are managed by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), which is under Cheong’s portfolio.
The bill will be submitted to one of the legislature’s standing committees for review before it is resubmitted to another plenary session for its second and final debate and vote.
Cheong underlined that the proposed bidding process aims to ensure that wet market stalls will be allocated to those who are really dedicated to running a fresh food sales business, adding that the proposed bidding process would not be run based on the principle that the licences will be granted to those who offer the highest bids.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle. Courtesy: TDM
