RESIDENTS are yearning for the 31-year-old Seletar Hills market which was demolished last year.
A shopping mall has sprung up along Sengkang West Avenue to serve Sengkang, Fernvale and Seletar Hills residents, but residents say it is not a good-enough replacement for the market.
Fernvale Point, which was officially opened last week, has a wet market, a 24-hour food court and other amenities like a mini-mart and ATMs. The shops and stalls are on short, three-year leases, because they are meant to serve residents only until more people move into the area and a new town centre is built.
Besides complaining about the wet market being small and offering less by way of range of goods, the residents are also wondering why the plot formerly occupied by the Seletar Hills market is still vacant more than a year later.
The market, along with four blocks at Seletar Road, was selected for a redevelopment scheme to rejuvenate Housing Board estates in 2001.
This was shortly after $700,000 had been poured into refurbishing it following a fire in 2000.
In 2004, residents were told that a new shopping complex would take its place. Around 340 home owners, shopkeepers and stall holders were relocated.
The market - or lack of one - was a hot topic of discussion in Ang Mo Kio GRC in the run-up to this year's General Election.
Mr Tony Tan Tuan Khoon, 60, who lives in Jalan Redop and was among those against the market's closure, said: 'We were told the market was demolished so something could be developed. The mall is too far to walk to. Many of us are upset that there's been no news about the vacant land. We miss our market.'
Housewife Cathie Hwang, 60, who lives along Seletar Road, said residents also wanted to know why a URA 'for sale' sign at the plot indicates that only an eighth of the area - 5,002 sq m - was up for sale.
A URA spokesman told The Straits Times that the portion for sale is intended for a mixed commercial and residential development, while the rest is for future residential use. It added that nothing has come out of the few enquiries about the sale of the 5,002 sq m site.
Meanwhile, Fernvale Point food court stallkeeper Anita Lim, 54, is concerned that her business has been slow in picking up. One reason may be because some residents find the mall is not as convenient to get to.
But Fernvale residents like telephone operator Fadhlina Rahim, 28, have no complaints. This is because the mall is within walking distance of her home, and she can get almost all her necessities there.
Mr Nicholas Mak, director of consultancy and research at Knight Frank, said the plot has been left vacant probably because of an unexpected lack of demand.
The Housing Board, when asked about its decision to demolish the market and the housing blocks near it, said it worked with other agencies to consider prevailing demand, alternative uses and market sentiment.
jcheam@sph.com.sg
