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SINGAPORE: A compliance officer with the National Environment Agency (NEA) was hit by a man who was unaware of COVID-19’s safe distancing measures, the agency said on Wednesday (April 15), one of two cases of breach that he described as egregious in recent days.
From Monday to Wednesday, 19 instances of coercive measures were taken against members of the public for violating the safe distancing requirements in the markets and cooked food sections of the street vendor centers, NEA said in a press release, adding that two Cases involved people who became aggressive when approached by NEA officials.
In one case, on Wednesday, a man was seen eating in the cooked food section of a street vendor center on Block 89 Circuit Road when NEA officers approached him.
The man declined to provide his details to NEA officials, who then activated the police. But the man tried to leave before the police arrived.
“A NEA compliance officer tried to arrest the man who then hit the officer in the face,” NEA said.
“An investigation is ongoing and multiple charges can be considered.”
In a Facebook post, the Minister of the Environment and Water Resources, Masagos Zulkifli, said that the police will investigate the matter and called the incident “unacceptable”.
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In another egregious non-compliance case, a woman was seen not observing the 1m safe distance rule when shopping for food at a stall on the second floor of the street vendor center at Block 320 Shunfu Road on Tuesday.
The SG Clean Ambassadors advised him to practice safe distancing, but instead he proceeded to sit in the dining room of the cooked food section and eat the food he bought.
When advised to leave, the woman refused to comply and challenged the ambassadors and took pictures and videos of them. The police were activated, but the woman did not cooperate with them either and began filming the engagement.
His details were withdrawn by police and he will be issued a composition fine of S $ 300, NEA said.
A woman who was not practicing safe distancing while shopping for food and proceeded to consume food in the dining area of the cooked food section at a street vendor center at Block 320 Shunfu Road on April 14, 2020. (Photo: National Agency enviroment)
“NEA has a serious view of those who verbally or physically abuse our SG Clean officers and ambassadors,” the agency said.
“We will not hesitate to take firm action against those heinous criminals, including criminal prosecution if necessary.”
In a separate press release on Wednesday, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources encouraged members of the public to use the OneService app to report cases where safe distancing is not practiced.
“The information provided will help relevant agencies to identify critical points that require more patrols,” the ministry said.
“Please provide specific details and photos of the problem when submitting your comments.”
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It has been a week since heightened safe distancing measures were put in place last Tuesday to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, which has infected nearly 3,700 people in Singapore and killed nearly a dozen people.
After a week of observing at street vendor markets and centers since access control measures were implemented, the NEA identified four “hotspot” markets with long queues and extended peak hours.
These include the Geylang Serai, Block 20/21 Marsiling Lane, Block 104/105 Yishun Ring Road (Chong Pang Market) and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52 markets.
NEA advised visitors to those markets to consider visiting nearby markets as alternatives.
The agency also reminded members of the public not to loiter around street vendors, while those sitting or waiting for their take-out meals should maintain a safe distance and not sit in seats that are delimited so as not to be occupied.
“As Singapore approaches the second week of the circuit breaker period, the continued cooperation of all sponsors, as well as vendors, is required to ensure the success of circuit breaker measures to stop transmission of COVID-19 in Singapore, “said NEA
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