Capital Expenditure and Monthly Operating Costs for Value Meals @ South West Initiative
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the funding and expansion of the Value Meals @ South West initiative, as raised by Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis. Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai clarified that the pilot programme is funded entirely by Select Group as a corporate social responsibility project, with no costs borne by the South West Community Development Council. The initiative provides affordable meals through vending machines for $3 or less to assist low-income residents with the cost of living. Regarding expansion, the Minister explained that Community Development Councils develop local initiatives by aggregating resources and building networks with corporate partners. These collaborations are tailored to the specific local needs of each district to provide tangible benefits directly to heartland residents.
Transcript
40 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Value Meals @ South West initiative is funded by the Community Development Council (CDC); (b) if so, what is the breakdown of the upfront capital expenditure and monthly operating costs borne by the CDC; and (c) whether there are plans to introduce this across all HDB towns and, if not, why not.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: I am answering in my capacity as the Minister charged with the responsibility for the People's Association.
Value Meals @ South West is a partnership between South West Community Development Council (CDC) and Select Group, towards a programme that helps ease the cost of living, especially for low-income residents. It is a pilot programme, aimed at providing quality, accessible and affordable meal options via vending machines in the void decks of heartland locations. Residents can buy each value meal for $3 or less.
This programme is funded by the Select Group as part of its corporate social responsibility project and no cost is borne by South West CDC.
This programme is one of various initiatives which all CDCs have instituted, with the assistance of its partners, with tangible benefits going directly to the residents.
The CDCs have and will continue to build strong networks among its social and corporate partners, aggregating resources and working with partners to deliver meaningful collaborations that can benefit the residents directly. In doing so, the CDCs take into account the specific local needs in each of their districts.