The owner of a stall that faces one of these stations angrily said he had made multiple complaints about pigeon droppings, but nobody had come to rectify the matter.
“People come here to eat but it’s so dirty and there is bird poop everywhere,” the owner, who did not want to be named, told CNA.
He also pointed out that there were holes in the ceilings where rats often run into.
Mr Ng, who works as a hawker at a Japanese food stall, said more customers complained about rat sightings during the monsoon season in November.
“We’re mostly busy in the stalls, so we don’t see them. But customers will tell us about it,” he said, adding that he too served fewer customers today.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement released on Feb 1 that they have conducted a joint inspection at the food centre.
Preliminary investigations found signs of rats at the ceiling and the common area of Beauty World Food Centre.
Although it has yet to be revealed if rat infestation has been detected, the building management and managing agent of the food centre have been advised to enhance their pest control measures based on the findings, SFA and NEA said.
“Stallholders have been reminded to ensure food is kept in rat-proof containers, properly bag their refuse before disposal and to keep their stalls clean of food scraps so as to prevent easy access to food by the rats,” the statement said.
“STILL ACCEPTABLE”
Ms Elaine Ng was just about to dig into a bowl of noodles when she saw a rat run across a metal pipe multiple times, before going into hiding.
She patronises the hawker centre once every three to four months, and finds it “still acceptable” despite the rubbish on the ground and the rodent she just witnessed.
“It’s not dirty to a point that it’s off-putting, and I’ll still come back unless I see a group of them,” the 33-year-old said.
“I’ll be more wary if I see rats in the stalls itself, running on the food.”
While other customers drinking coffee or having an early dinner did agree that sanitation standards could improve, they seemed unfazed by the rodent sightings and said they would continue to patronise their go-to stalls.
Similar to Ms Ng, Mdm Alice continues to visit the hawker centre twice a week despite being unhappy with the sanitary conditions.
Just a few months ago, she spotted a rat crawling from one stall signage to another.
“I’ve been coming here for more than 30 years, some sides are clean, but some can be very dirty and there’s often litter on the floor,” she said.
