SFA launches tender for rental of 7 sites at HDB car park rooftops for urban farming
File photo of a rooftop farm in Ang Mo Kio. (File photo: Facebook/Citiponics)
SINGAPORE: Another seven sites at Housing Board (HDB) multi-storey car park rooftops were launched by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Tuesday (Feb 23) for rental by public tender.
"The sites will be used to farm vegetables and other food crops, as well as for other related purposes, such as the packing/storage of produce," said SFA and HDB in a joint media release.
This follows the launch of the first tender for HDB multi-storey car park rooftop sites last year, with SFA awarding nine sites for urban farming in September 2020.
A single 2,096 sq m site in Jurong West is among the seven locations on offer, providing "opportunities to testbed innovative ideas".
The remaining six sites are offered as clusters in Bukit Panjang, Sembawang and Woodlands, with each cluster consisting of two sites. These cluster sites "will enable farms to derive savings through production at scale", said HDB and SFA.
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Tenderers must submit their proposals via the Government's e-procurement portal GeBiz by 4pm on Mar 23.
"Proposals will be assessed on their bid price, production output, design and site layout, as well as business/marketing plan," said SFA and HDB.
The agencies added that availing more spaces in Singapore for commercial farming, including alternative spaces like HDB multi-storey car park rooftops, is one of the strategies SFA has been undertaking to achieve Singapore’s "30 by 30" target, which is to produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
The move is also in line with HDB’s Green Towns Programme to intensify greening in HDB estates, added the agencies.
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Senior director of SFA's Food Supply Resilience Division Melvin Chow said: "We are heartened by the continued interest from both the local agri-food industry and the public towards urban farming in community spaces."
Mr Chow added that besides contributing to Singapore's food security, the rooftop farms help in "raising awareness and support for local produce".
"It is great to see residents in the area enjoying fresh produce straight from such farms and found conveniently at nearby supermarkets," he said.
"As we work towards our '30 by 30' goal, we hope that consumers will continue to show their appreciation for our local farms by choosing to buy local produce and encouraging those around them to do the same.
"This will help to spur our local farms to become more productive to meet the increased demand, and create an enabling environment for our local agri-food industry to thrive."
