A NEW community and lifestyle hub in Tampines with some services operating round-the-clock was officially opened yesterday.
A key feature of the sprawling Our Tampines Hub – about the size of 23 football fields – is a first-of-its-kind Public Services Centre that houses services of six government agencies under one roof.
This means that residents can register for People’s Association activities or pay Housing Board-related fees like mortgage payments or parking fines at a 24-hour e-lobby.
For more complicated tasks like job matching or disbursing financial assistance, several officers from these and other agencies – North East Community Development Council, Workforce Singapore, Ministry of Social and Family Development and ActiveSG – will be on duty up to 10pm.
Other 24/7 offerings at the hub include an 800-seater hawker centre, which has 42 stalls and an automated tray return station, to get diners to clean up after themselves.
The hub, which has been five years in the making, also houses a shopping mall, community health centre, the first HomeTeamNS clubhouse in the east and a community auditorium with 20 badminton courts.
It is located at the site of the former Tampines Stadium and Sports Hall, which was demolished to make way for the hub, which is expected to benefit some 200,000 residents in Tampines.
The hub will also put into practice sustainable lifestyle habits, like working towards generating zero waste.
The expected 1.4 tonnes of daily food waste it produces can be converted to fertiliser, liquid nutrients or non-potable water. The fertiliser will be distributed for free to residents who need it.
Yesterday, the National Environment Agency and North East CDC also launched “I Love My Food @ North East”.
The campaign, among other things, will see all Tampines families get a guide book on reducing food wastage.
While more can be done to tackle the large amount of food Singaporeans throw away, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli, an MP for Tampines GRC, said the recycling system is one way to mitigate the problem.
He told residents: “Zero waste also means a significant reduction in pollution as well as manpower resources required to transfer waste from the Hub to landfills and incinerators on a daily basis.”
Mr Masagos was guest of honour at the hub’s opening, which marked the completion of the first of three phases.
The hub, which will also have six swimming pools and a five-storey library, is expected to be fully operational by August next year.
Residents welcome the opening.
Said retired secretary Patricia Ang, 62: “It is good to have more options in Tampines.
“More 24-hour food stalls means that my son has no excuse to skip dinner if he comes home late.”
rachelay@sph.com.sg
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