By Joyce Lim, The Straits Times, 30 Jan 2014
Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) is set to appear in court on Feb 18, for operating a Chinese New Year fair from Jan 9 to 30, without a licence.
The Workers' Party-run town council said in a statement on Thursday that it had received the summons from National Environment Agency (NEA).
The statement also said that the town council had "initiated communications with the over its intention to run the event since Dec 20 last year, with the nature of the community fair and the benefit to residents clearly stated".
Last month, a fair approved by AHPETC had to stop its operations because its organiser had failed to get a relevant licence from NEA.
"In addition to summons against the town council as the organiser of the fair, the NEA has also issued notices to attend court and to pay fines to residents and their family members assisting there on Jan 28, 29 and 30," said AHPETC.
"As the case against the (town council) is already fixed for court mention... it would not be appropriate to comment further on the matter at this time. The TC will present its case in court."
NEA acts against unlicensed trade fair in Hougang
By Joyce Lim, The Straits Times, 30 Jan 2014
THE National Environment Agency (NEA) has acted against another unlicensed trade fair organised by the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) earlier this month.
The agency has applied for a court summons against the council for the fair at Hougang Central Hub, as it had not obtained the licence required under the Environmental Public Health Act.
NEA added that four stallholders were also served with Notices to Attend Court for hawking without a licence.
An NEA spokesman told The Straits Times: "AHPETC has continued to blatantly break the law and wilfully exposed their tenants to legal action."
Stallholders said that after the festive fair started on Jan 9, NEA officers visited the site - which is in front of Hougang Mall - in the first and second week to issue warning letters to the town council.
Then on Tuesday night, officers from NEA visited again to issue more summonses.
"The NEA officers came at about 10pm on Tuesday and told me not to operate. I told him to let us operate till Jan 30, but he said we can't do so without a licence," said stallholder Goh Kwee Leng, 63.
"He then issued me a summons and said that if I did not pay the fine, I would have to attend court on Feb 18."
He added that AHPETC officers were present that night and told them they would help to settle the matter.
"So we handed the summonses to them and continued with the business... But NEA officers showed up again today and issued two more summonses to two workers."
Mr Goh said he and three workers were each issued a fine of $300.
This is not the first time AHPETC has run into trouble with NEA. Last month, a trade fair approved by AHPETC had to stop its operations because its organiser had failed to get a relevant licence from the agency.
NEA said that between 2011 and this month, it had taken operators to court for operating a fair without a valid licence on 15 occasions.
Eleven operators have since been fined amounts up to $800, with the remaining four pending court mentions. These fairs were located at Tampines, Toa Payoh, Simei, Clementi, Kovan City, Bukit Merah, Kampong Glam, Chinatown and Tanglin Halt.
There are currently 28 approved fairs in operation islandwide, three of which are located in the Aljunied/Hougang area.
Town council, PA in festive fair spat
By Joyce Lim, The Straits Times, 30 Jan 2014
By Joyce Lim, The Straits Times, 30 Jan 2014
The fair, organised by the Kovan Merchants' Association, is being held at a hard court beside Heartland Mall, on land leased by the Government to the PA.
AHPETC issued three notices to the PA, saying that the tentage and ropes for the fair protruded beyond the boundaries of the leased plot and therefore encroached on the council's common property.
This, it said, flouted a by-law which states that no one can "erect or install any fixture, structure or thing on any common property or in any open space except with the prior written permission of the Town Council".
But AHPETC vice-chairman Pritam Singh has said there were also safety issues at play.
The notices did not indicate any other details of how the offences were purportedly committed, but said that "a notice of composition or a summons to attend Court will be served on you in due course".
AHPETC's action has not gone down well with either the merchants' association or the PA, who claim that the problems were rectified immediately after an inspection by a town council officer on Jan 7.
The tentage for the fair was put up on Dec 31, even though the fair was to run from Jan 7 to 30.
"On the morning of Jan7, a town council officer inspected the site and told the merchants that the tentage had intruded 1m into the town council's property," said Mr Lee Bak Lee, 69, vice-chairman of the Paya Lebar Citizens' Consultative Committee, which comes under the PA.
"The rectification was done by about 2pm on the same day. I don't see why they would issue the notice when the problem was rectified immediately."
He said that the site, located within Aljunied GRC, is frequently used for community activities to promote bonding.
Aside from the tentage and the ropes, AHPETC also alleged that a dustbin placed outside of the tentage also encroached onto the town council's common property.
Mr Poon Cher Hock, 55, secretary of Kovan Merchants' Association, said that the town council officer had said the PA may face a charge of $1,000 a day for offences backdated to Dec31.
Last night, Mr Singh said there was no disagreement among the various parties that an encroachment had taken place.
On the issue of safety, he said: "The tentage anchor was anchored to the railing, and the concern on the town council side was that... it may not hold the tentage up and it should have been anchored to the ground."
He added that a notice of offence has been issued but the composition amount notice has not been issued and so the amount to be paid had not been fixed yet.
"The fact of the matter is, no formal fine has been issued to them to the tune of $1,000."