Hawkers who had to close stalls ask for easier access to grants
Some food sellers who are just emerging from their two-week quarantine are calling for easier access to financial compensation, having had to throw away a lot of their fresh ingredients and lose revenue because of mandated stall closures.
They said the online application process - which should give them $100 for each day they are forced to shut - is too complicated.
Many also did not know how to start or where to go online.
Money should be more quickly dispensed to them, especially when entire food centres are being closed owing to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster, they said.
The Straits Times was at the markets and food centres at Hong Lim and Chong Boon, which reopened yesterday to sparse crowds.
Some stallholders have chosen not to reopen until after the National Day long weekend.
Hawkers who have been served quarantine orders or whose incomes have been adversely affected by the pandemic can seek financial help via schemes such as the Quarantine Order Allowance Scheme, The Courage Fund, or the Covid-19 Recovery Grant. Some hawkers have also received rental waivers or reductions.
Mr Ong, 55, who declined to give his full name, operates a mixed rice stall at Hong Lim food centre. He said there are too many forms.
"Instead of a signature, they also require us to use our thumbprint for authentication. I don't know how to do that."
Mr San Ah Hock, 58, said he will get his son to help him with the application. He has operated the fruit stall at Chong Boon Market and Food Centre for more than 40 years, and knows those who work there well. He estimated that eight out of 10 stallholders there would not know how to apply for the aid.
"Most of them are elderly, not that educated, or do not have children (who can help them)."
At Chong Boon, vegetable stall owner Chia Hock Seng, 62, said business was about 20 per cent of the usual.
"We had to throw away about 100kg to 200kg of vegetables when the market closed and lost about $400. It might take at least a month for the crowds to return," he said.
The situation at Hong Lim was similar, with Mr Chew Chee Giap, 65, a vegetarian food stall owner, saying he had served only six customers in the morning, a far cry from the usual 50 to 60 he would have had by 9am.
"It is a difficult time for all hawkers," he said.
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