By mid-2020, water dispensers will be available at 112 hawker centres in Singapore.
This was announced by Senior Minister of State and Ministry of Health (MOH) Edwin Tong during the Committee of Supply debates on Thursday (Mar. 5).
Encourage Singaporeans to drink plain water
In his speech, Tong explained that MOH is putting in effort to encourage Singaporeans to drink plain water.
MOH has been working with agencies like the National Environment Agency (NEA), Housing and Development Board (HDB), Land Transport Authority (LTA) and National Parks Board (NParks) to increase the availability and accessibility of drinking plain water in the community.
Additionally, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) will launch a nation-wide campaign to promote plain water in mid-2020, as part of its nutrition literacy campaign.
More water coolers/dispensers at hawker centres, bus and MRT stations
Tong stated that water dispensers are currently available in 30 hawker centres in Singapore.
But by mid-2020, more water dispensers will be installed at the remaining 82 hawker centres.
In addition, MOH will work with LTA and public transport operators to install water points at bus and MRT stations where suitable.
Currently, only 14 bus interchanges and terminals have water coolers installed.
In conjunction with MOH's efforts to prevent diabetes
This plain water initiative is in conjunction with MOH's efforts to prevent diabetes.
Tong said that freshly-prepared beverages, such as freshly made herbal drinks and bubble teas are a substantial and growing source of sugar intake for many Singaporeans.
Thus, new regulatory measures for pre-packaged beverages in Singapore were also announced on Mar. 5.
Top image from HPB Website.