[h=2]Sembawang-Nee Soon TC raises rentals for retailers by 4 times and more[/h]
Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council has increased fees for outdoor advertising areas in neighbourhood or town centres. The fees will increase 4 times from $30 to $120 for areas between 1 and 8 sq m and nearly 5 times from $50 to $240 for areas between 8.01 and 16 sq m. For areas that are above 16 sq m, the retailers will have to pay 5 times more at $100 from previous $20. Outdoor advertising areas refer to the demarcated areas (usually by yellow or red lines) outside the retailers’ shops. Retailers typically use the areas to showcase their wares. The fee hike, the first in 17 years for shopkeepers in Sembawang-Nee Soon GRC will be implemented in April. Some 630 businesses will be affected. A spokesman said that the fees charged by the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council have “lagged substantially behind” other town councils. She said, “After the review, the (fees) will range from $2 to $8 a day, still amongst the lowest in Singapore.” Mr Lee Aik Chin, 60, who runs an IT services business at Woodlands Centre, said he was unhappy that the town council did not explain the rationale of the fee increase to the retailers. He said he will stop using the areas outside his shop because of the fee hike. Mr Edmund Wong, who owns a medical hall, lamented, “Business has been bad … with the current circumstances, it makes it harder for us.” For a 9.3 sq m areas outside his shop, he will now have to pay $3,000 after the hike, up from his previous $600. The fee hike by Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council comes after Tampines Town Council raised its fees in Sep. . Join our TRE facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/TREmeritus |
<TBODY>
</TBODY>
