Sungei Road flea market will have to go

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http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/sungei-road-flea-market-will-have-go-20140731

Around eight decades of history seem set to come to an end for Sungei Road flea market.

As it has to make way for the Sungei Road MRT station, due to open in 2017, an association representing its 200 traders had suggested relocating to one of four alternative sites nearby.

However, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has rejected this - and not given it any explanation.

When asked, NEA referred The Straits Times to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which said the four sites have been zoned for parks and residential use under Master Plan 2014.

They are next to Rochor River, at Kampong Bugis along Kallang River, behind Sim Lim Tower and a roadside near Jalan Kubor Malay cemetery.

The president of the Association for the Recycling of Second Hand Goods, Mr Koh Ah Koon, 73, received a letter from the NEA informing him of the decision last week. He passed on the bad news to members at a meeting on Monday.

"Shutting down the market will mean taking away a source of income for many elderly folk here," he said. "Most of us have little education or are illiterate."