In a dramatic twist of fate, vendors of the recently-closed Sungei Road Hawking Zone will not be relocating to the sixth storey of Golden Mile Tower carpark, as building owners LHN Group have alleged that no deal has been agreed upon.
As the closure of the SRHZ (better known as Thieves’ Market) loomed, news of a possible ‘relocation’ to Golden Mile Tower made its rounds on the internet, with reputable publications picking up the story on the day of its closure. Flyers of the supposed relocation were given out on the final day as well.
The Association For The Recycling of Second Hand Goods, which oversees the welfare of the vendors, issued joint statements on the Save Sungei Road Market Facebook page. An update on the fate of the vendors was posted on Tuesday (Jul 11):
Here’s the gist:
- “The Association For Recycling Of Second Hand Goods recognises the government’s need to use this land for development. We have always been co-operative and been willing to vacate this space to complement the government’s plan. We are merely asking the government to consider relocating the market to another space.”
- “So we announce that the Association with some of the vendors will start a temporary market at Golden Mile Tower from Jul 15. This new temporary market will be called Sungei Market.”
Up to this point, the planned relocation was subject to approval by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). There was much fanfare surrounding the news and it was greeted warmly by netizens who were glad to see the market preserved in another spot.
TODAY, however, ran an article claiming that the plans for the relocation had been “thrown into disarray” and no deal was struck between LHN Group and the Association. This prompted a post by Save Sungei Road Market in response to the article, expressing disappointment in the way it was written to cast a bad light on relocation plans.
The article reported that a sum of $10,000 had been paid for the first month, according to Association vice-chairman Koh Eng Koon, and that workers were seen painting over parking lots. Save Sungei Road Market refuted these claims and requested for TODAY to rescind the article.
Again, if TL;DR:
- Discussions were held in late June, July 5 and July 11 with LHN Group to operate within the carpark premises. There has yet to be any contractual agreement made.
- Verbal agreement was received from LHN management subject to URA approval. No rental payment was made yet.
- On July 11 and 12, the Association approached URA to understand the requirements and application process, and an architect stepped in to help initiate the application process. No official application was made.
- The vendors that expressed interest in relocating to Golden Mile Tower have been informed of the delay and will have to await further notification.
- The Association is seeking help from the authorities and public to source for alternate locations for the displaced vendors to operate collectively as one community.
- The Association would like to apologize to LHN Group for painting over the carpark lots.
A URA spokesman said on Wednesday in response to TODAY’s queries that it has advised the association on the application procedure after it received enquiries on Tuesday from Koh and other representatives. However, it has not received any application.
“We wish to clarify that, to date, there has been no commercial agreement reached that we have allowed Sungei Road Market to operate on the 6th level of Golden Mile Tower’s carpark, nor has any money been exchanged,” LHN spokesman Jeremy Ong wrote in an email reply to TODAY.
“Any infringement will be considered as illegal trespassing, including the painting of lots which was done without our permission. We consider this as an act of vandalism.”
In other words, don’t expect to see Thieves Market v2.0 at Golden Mile anytime soon.
