Covid-19 curbs: Stepped-up safety measures in Little India pre-Deepavali; 24 errant F&B outlets taken to task

SINGAPORE — Enhanced safety measures have been implemented in Little India in the run-up to Deepavali on Nov 4, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) said on Friday (Oct 22).

As more visitors are expected in the area, authorities will switch off the popular pedestrian crossing at the junction of Campbell Lane and Serangoon Road and redirect pedestrian traffic to two other crossings at Sungei Road and Dunlop Street.

They will also forbid businesses from placing their wares onto the pedestrian walkways, to prevent crowding.

Enforcement presence by government agencies will increase during this time, and some businesses in Little India will extend their operating hours to allow shoppers to spread out their visits and prevent overcrowding, MSE added.

In its statement, MSE also said that since Oct 9, 24 food and beverage (F&B) outlets have been ordered to shut or have been fined for breaching Covid-19 regulations, while 24 individuals have been fined for breaching vaccination-differentated measures.

Of the 24 eateries, 15 were ordered to shut and nine were fined. Closure orders spanned 10 to 20 days while fines were in the range of S$1,000 to S$2,000.

They were found to have broken various rules, such as failing to ensure customers adhered to the permitted group size, allowing singing and toasting, playing music and failing to ensure a safe distance of at least 1m between groups of customers.

MSE said that government agencies had checked more than 1,000 premises and more than 3,700 individuals for compliance to rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated patrons.

One F&B outlet, Katong Eating House, was found to have failed to implement checks to ensure that only patrons with a “cleared status” are allowed to enter or remain within their premises to eat or drink.

A “cleared status” is if the patron is fully vaccinated, has recovered from Covid-19 or has a valid negative pre-event test within the last 24 hours.

For the breach, Katong Eating House was ordered to close for 10 days from Oct 15 to 24.

MSE reminded businesses that strict compliance with safe management measures, including vaccinated-differentiated measures, is critical for everyone’s safety and firm enforcement action will be taken against those who do not comply with safe distancing measures.

The 15 establishments ordered to shut were:

• Canton Paradise (NEX)
• De Boss House (Joo Chiat Road)
• Drinks at Wan Jin Eating House (Serangoon Central Drive)
• Fluff Stack (Tampines One)
• Kei Hachi (Keong Saik Road)
• KPO (Killiney Road)
• Mahota Kitchen (Century Square)
• Malaysia Boleh (Eastpoint Mall)
• Mama Chin (Circular Road)
• Pink Whale (Circular Road)
• Shi Hao Mala (Geylang Road)
• Tai Fu Lou (New Bridge Road)
• The Luxe Bistro (Upper Weld Road)
• Wan Chai Hong Kong Tea Room (IMM)
• Katong Eating House (Mountbatten Road)

The nine establishments fined were:

• Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall
• Delifrance (Tampines One)
• Flippers (Ngee Ann City)
• Kopitiam (Bukit Panjang Plaza)
• North Miznon (Amoy Street)
• Texas Chicken (Vivocity)
• Toast Box (AMK Hub)
• Ya Kun Kaya & Toast (JCUBE)
• Yellow Goldenland (North Bridge Road)