Hawkers from the Jurong West Hawker Centre has lodged a petition to the NEA to have the operator remove the fee of 20 cents for each returned tray. This easily computes to the hawkers coming out with hundreds of dollars each month just because customers return trays like they are supposed to.
The petition was signed by 12 hawkers and submitted to NEA as well as Koufu, which runs the hawker centre through its social enterprise subsidiary. The hawkers also claim that the Jurong West Centre is the only in Singapore where the hawkers have to pay for the customers returning their trays. The unfair system also sees the customers not having to pay anything when they take the tray, but will receive 20cents if they return their tray.
