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SINGAPORE- Five food and beverage establishments (F&B) were ordered to close, while another 16 establishments and 36 people will be fined for violating safe management measures.
The breaches were discovered during intensified enforcement checks over the past weekend, the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment (MSE) said in a statement on Tuesday (December 22).
The intensified surveillance will extend over the next few weeks, coinciding with the year-end holiday period.
Tuesday’s statement said that on Dec. 18, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) issued an order requiring the Cheers Up store at 2 Havelock Road to close for 10 days from Dec. 19 through Dec. 28 to allow customers consume alcoholic beverages after 10:30 pm on December 11.
When officers did a follow-up check on December 18, they found that the establishment still allowed customers to consume alcoholic beverages at 11:15 p.m. URA issued another lockdown order for 20 days from December 29 to January 17 of next year.
Last Saturday (December 19) four additional crimes were committed.
Another establishment, One Min Club in Orchard, also committed multiple violations of safe management measures. These included allowing a group of seven people to sit together at one table, a group of 11 people to sit at another table, and providing drinking games to customers.
Food and drink establishments cannot offer games if they are not also an entertainment center. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) issued an order requiring the operator to shut down its facilities for 10 days starting on December 20.
Additionally, law enforcement officers also observed Tangmen’s customers in Orchard consuming alcoholic beverages that were hidden in green tea bottles at 3.40 a.m. STB has issued an order requiring the operator to close its facilities for 10 days until December 28.
At the Chong Qing Steamboat on Beach Road, a group of eight customers were found intermingled at 10 p.m. last Saturday. URA ordered the operator to close for 10 days until January 1.
Finally, on Saturday, officers observed customers at QQ on South Bridge Road consuming alcoholic beverages at 10:40 p.m. URA ordered the operator to shut down for 10 days until January 1.
The 16 food and beverage outlets will be fined for crimes such as admitting and seating groups of more than five together, allowing groups to mingle and seating groups of customers less than a meter apart, the ministry said.
A total of 36 people will also be fined for failing to observe safe handling measures at food and beverage outlets. They had gathered and sat in groups of more than five and mingled between groups, the ministry said.
“Agencies are reviewing violations and appropriate enforcement actions that will be taken, including temporary closure of outlets and issuance of fines. Food and beverage outlets with repeated violations will face stiffer penalties,” he said MSE.
Under current phase two Covid-19 regulations, social gatherings in groups of more than five are not allowed outside of an individual’s residence.
F&B establishments cannot accept group bookings of more than five, even if those groups are divided into multiple tables.
Mixing of groups is also prohibited.
“The government will not hesitate to crack down on the operators and individuals who treat safe management measures with blatant disregard,” MSE warned.
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