THEY'VE been asked to make a one-time payment of $10,000 for a market stall the size of an HDB flat toilet.

Too expensive?

Yes, say some stall-holders at the Empress Road Market and Hawker Centre.

Well, that's what it costs, says the chairman of the market and hawkers' association.

The issue arose because the wet market off Farrer Road is being closed for upgrading.

While the 30-year-old market and hawker centre undergoes the 10-month upgrading, a temporary market will house some of the stalls.

The construction of the temporary market, located beside the current market, started in December. It will be completed in the middle of this month.

Food stall-holders will resume business after the upgrading is completed.

The temporary market is only for the wet market stall-holders.

But some are complaining that the stalls given to them at the temporary market are too small and too expensive.

Mr Y S Tan, 53, said he will have to pay $7,200 for a temporary stall that is about half the size of his current stall.

The fresh chicken seller said: 'I have a fridge and a chiller. The chiller will take up about half the space at the temporary stall.

'There will only be just enough space for me to stand behind the chiller, which acts as a counter for my stall too.'

'There's not enough space to open the fridge doors.'

ELECTRICITY NOT INCLUDED

So Mr Tan asked for an extension of the space, but was told to pay $2,800 to increase the space at the temporary stall by 50 per cent, bringing the price up to $10,000.

Another fresh chicken seller, Mr James Lim, agreed.

Mr Tan Tuck Hua, chairman of the Empress Road Market and Hawker Association, said that everyone is affected.

Mr Lim said: 'How are we to do business with such a small space? I also think we are paying too high a price for the temporary stall.'

The two chicken stall owners said they each pay between $800 to $1,000 a month at the old market. This includes the rent, electricity bill and conservancy charges.

Mr Lim said the $10,000 he and Mr Tan will pay for the temporary stalls does not include charges for fixing water pipes and a power point for electricity.

Mr Lim said: 'The association chairman told me that I have to pay $70 for a power point and another $150 to have water supplied to the stall.

'We are already paying so much. Why do we have to fork out money for these things?

'Shouldn't water and a power point come together with the stall?'

Association chairman Tan Tuck Hua told The New Paper that the area allotted for the temporary market was not big.

He said: 'I tried to get the temporary market built at a bigger place. But these places were deemed unsuitable as they were either too near a school or a carpark.'

As for the stall-holders' complaints that the temporary stalls were too small and expensive, Mr Tan said everyone is affected.

He said: 'There's not much of a choice as the space at the temporary market is narrow.

'If the stallholders need more space, they should consider discarding some unnecessary items or share a stall to place their stuff.'

Mr Tan also responded to complaints that the rent for the temporary stalls is too high.

He said: 'The tender for the temporary market went to the lowest bidder. The total cost of building is $270,000.

'It is then shared among the stall owners who will occupy the temporary market.'

Mr Tan said the temporary market has space for 33 stalls, compared with the 80-plus stalls at the wet market.

Only 28 will move to the temporary market.

About a third of the 80 stall owners have decided to give up their business.

The rest have decided not to move to the temporary market, but will return once the upgrading is over, Mr Tan said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Feb 1, 2008.