Restaurant, construction company each fined $6,500 for Covid breach
A total of 65 people had gathered in a restaurant for a company dinner on the weekend before Chinese New Year, breaching safe distancing rules.
The event, organised by construction company Asia Piling for its workers, was held at Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant at Turf City on Feb 6 this year.
The maximum number of people permitted in each group at the time was eight.
Yesterday, Asia Piling and Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant Holdings were fined $6,500 each.
The companies had each pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching a Covid-19 control order. The construction firm admitted to organising the event, while the restaurant admitted to hosting it.
EVENT STOPPED
The breach was uncovered when enforcement officers checked the restaurant at about 6.40pm and saw the workers seated across nine tables for the dinner.
The officers were able to stop the event before the food was served.
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh urged the court to fine each company $7,000.
"The group size here was large," he said.
"If the enforcement officers did not arrive when they did, the event would very likely have gone on."
Following the breach, the restaurant was ordered by the Singapore Land Authority to close its premises for 10 days from Feb 10 to Feb 19.
Those who breach a Covid-19 control order for the first time can be fined up to $10,000 and jailed for up to six months. The maximum sentence is doubled for repeat offenders.
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