Source : Straits Times – 8 Jul 2009
I REFER to Monday’s report, ‘Red boxes like red packets for HDB shops’. I am shocked that shop owners have been renting out the space in front of their stores for profit instead of using it to display their merchandise.
In the case of the optical shop at Marine Parade Central mentioned in the report, the shop owner paid $100 a month for the space, but rented it out for $1,500. This has been going on since October 2007, meaning the shop owner has made a profit of $29,400.
Why has the town council allowed this to go on, and will it recover the $29,400 from the shop owner?
As the Housing Board is the owner of the common property where the red boxes are drawn, it should step in to control the situation before it gets out of hand.
It is not fair to other law-abiding shop owners that the spaces are being rented out to vendors who may compete with their business, when these shop owners pay rents as high as $5,000 to $10,000 a month.
Richard Lee
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