Impact on Vehicular Flow following New Registration and Security Measures at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre

16 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how does the Singapore Food Agency intend to mitigate vehicular congestion that may arise from the new registration and security measures at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre (PPWC); and (b) whether aspects of this system will be reviewed to take into account the feedback from PPWC vendors and consumers.

The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment): The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is implementing the new Visitor Management System (VMS) at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre (PPWC) in phases. As the PPWC is an important node in our food supply chain, the VMS aims to enhance safety and security on the premises and facilitate contact tracing and site management in the event of emergencies and future pandemics.

This is one of the very important lessons that we learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic and we have to do this in order to protect the interests of the tenants, the public as well as our food security.

The system is being implemented in phases, beginning with PPWC-based operators and tenants from sometime this month onwards to allow them time to adapt to the new system. Any other external visitors visiting the site will only be required to register under the VMS in a much later phase.

So, this will be done in progressive stages. We want to make sure that the tenants are comfortable. To facilitate a smooth transition, SFA has been engaging the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre Association and the stallholders, made trial VMS kiosks available at PPWC and conducted user demonstration practice sessions.

I personally tried registering myself through the onsite kiosk. It is very simple. It takes less than about maybe 10 or 20 seconds if you scan your Singpass on the kiosk. Most of the information will be populated. All you need to do is key in your contact number, like your phone number and then you are done.

Once a user is registered, the registration details will be valid for a whole year. Any future visits to the place within the year will not require new registration. So, the process will be quite hassle-free. The user then just needs to scan your Singpass or your ID on the gantry and you can very quickly enter the premises. I think that is something which I hope would reassure the tenants and users that it would not be a system that will be too cumbersome.

As the various phases are implemented, SFA will review the operation of the system, take into account feedback and any adjustments that are needed to make changes so that any kinks or any inconveniences can be minimised as much as possible. Our aim is to make sure we work with our stakeholders to strike a balance between security and operational interests of PPWC, stallholders and the public.

Mr Speaker: Mr Yong.

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas): I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply and also his assurances that he is working closely with the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre Association. I think while the intent is clear and the objectives are understandable, I think he has also said that we should strive to strike a balance between security and also the daily operations. The wholesale centre has a whole range of users, from the staff working there which is quite a number, and also the logistics personnel that delivers as well as fetches and distributes the goods there, as well as retail consumers that goes there to buy.

I understand that even without the system, during the peak hours of operations, the traffic conditions are already quite a problem. So, we really hope that the SFA will work very closely to monitor, so that the traffic does not become worse because of the system.

I saw that the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority recently rolled out a QR code system for immigration clearance at our land checkpoints. The feedback so far seems to have been positive. So, would the SFA consider a similar system for the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, Jurong Fishery Port and others, and that you are planning to do, to expedite the access clearance?

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Sir, I thank Mr Melvin Yong for raising this suggestion to consider a QR code. I think we are all mindful that it is a very busy place with many different stakeholders going in and out – high human traffic and also high vehicle traffic. So, the approach we take is going to be a gradual one. We start with the tenants who have to be there regularly, on a daily basis, as well as the workers who are permanently working there. We will track how many of them have already pre-registered. The registration need not be done at the kiosk on-site.

In fact, you can do it online. You do not need to be congested in the guardroom trying to register. You can do it online in the comfort of your home or your office. Once that is done, that registration will be valid for a whole year. Then, there will be no further queues needed at the point of entry, except to produce your NRIC or your Singpass on your mobile phone – something which most of us will carry anyway.

When it comes to vehicles, I think it will be the same approach. Delivery personnel who are regularly coming to the place, most tenants will know who their upstream suppliers are and who are their downstream customers. We will give time for the tenants to engage their upstream and downstream stakeholders, to make sure that they are given time to pre-register themselves online; so that when these personnel who are not physically working there on a regular basis, but do come frequently enough to pick up or to deliver items, they can then be processed quite quickly by just scanning their NRIC and a tap, a couple of seconds, the gantry opens and they can enter.

For drivers who are entering the premises, they need not even get off their vehicle. Because at the normal gantry, the ERP gantry where you go to the gantry and you get the fees charged on the ERP device in your vehicle, we have mounted a similar tapping sensor on the gantry.

So, a driver just needs to reach the gantry where the fees are deducted for the per-entry charge or the exit charge. You wind down your window, you tap your IC on the sensor that is mounted at the height of the windows and you can just then drive through without having to disembark the vehicle.

This is the way in which we facilitate traffic flow without increasing congestion. But as I said, we will do this in phases. We want to settle the human traffic first and then we will implement the vehicle part, when we are quite certain that the tenants have already tried to engage most of the upstream and downstream stakeholders so that they will not come there and be surprised by it.

The final phase will then involve the rest of the public. By which time, we hope to have sent out enough information and make the public aware that should they want to turn up, they should pre-register online or must be prepared to bring their IDs for registration with the kiosk at the guardroom.

I hope that reassures the Member that we are considering this very carefully. We will continue to engage the stakeholders there and if there is a way to use other convenient technology like perhaps a QR code, we can consider that. But as I said, because we are using IDs that all of us physically have, there may not really be a need to duplicate another new step by generating a QR code.