SINGAPORE: Rents for the Geylang Serai Ramadan bazaar next year will be capped at S$15,000 (US$10,960) per stall, said Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim.
This is to ensure the bazaar is “more affordable for our sellers and consumers”, he added in a Facebook post on Sunday (Oct 29).
The move comes after vendors complained of high rental costs at this year’s edition, resulting in some struggling to turn in a profit.
According to the organisers of this year’s bazaar, which ran from Mar 17 to Apr 21, the rent for a food and beverage stall ranged between S$14,000 and S$25,000 per month.
“For Bazaar Raya Geylang Serai 2024, we are taking steps to ensure that it is more affordable for our sellers and consumers,” said Dr Faishal, who is also the lead adviser of Wisma Geylang Serai.
“(The rental cap) will benefit consumers by offering items which are more cost-effective,” he added, noting that tenders have opened.
Nearly 200 out of the 700 units were still not taken up four days into this year’s bazaar.
Wisma Geylang Serai later said in a Mar 24 press release that the take-up rate was 95 per cent for food and beverage booths, and 80 per cent for retail stalls.
The organisers said that the empty spaces were due to greater competition from other bazaars across Singapore, along with many vendors also pivoting to home-based businesses after the pandemic.
The 2023 bazaar ran for 36 days, making it the longest-running edition ever.