Sanitary plumbers to be licensed

Sanitary plumbers who work on the used water system, such as toilet bowls, urinals and sinks, will be licensed from April, in a move to safeguard against contamination of the Republic's drinking water supply.

Steps will be taken to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to take on increasingly complex plumbing works, with the passing of the Public Utilities (Amendment) Bill in Parliament yesterday.

Water service plumbers, who work on the drinking water supply system, are already required to be licensed.

The new licensing requirement will come under the revised Licensed Plumber scheme.

1 in 4 PMD riders caught was over 50

About one in four people caught riding personal mobility devices (PMDs) on roads, or who were warned for unsafe riding behaviour on paths, was aged over 50.

Last year, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Traffic Police caught about 460 users in total for the offence of riding on roads, said Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan in a written answer to a parliamentary question.

About 1,800 advisories have also been issued to people for unsafe riding on public paths, he added. To help raise awareness among cyclists and PMD users on safe riding habits, LTA has launched campaigns and works with volunteers to engage and educate the public, including the elderly.

MRT stations' underground link

The Marina Bay and Downtown MRT stations will be connected by an underground link, said Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.

He was responding to Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC), who asked if there would be such a link or, if not, a covered linkway between both stations.

Mr Khaw said the Land Transport Authority will work with the Urban Redevelopment Authority to provide for an underground link as part of its future plans.

He did not provide further details.

Protocols on police camera footage

There are strict protocols ensuring that access to police camera footage is "tightly controlled", said Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Amrin Amin yesterday, responding to concerns over data privacy.

When police cameras were introduced in 2012, they were installed at Housing Board blocks and multi-storey carparks.

The expansion of the scheme in 2016 under PolCam 2.0 took these cameras to a wider range of common areas. Mr Amrin said anyone found using the footage or accessing the information for unauthorised purposes will be severely dealt with.

PolCam 2.0 is expected to be completed by 2020, covering 2,500 locations, with about 6,000 more cameras to be installed.

Footage from police cameras has helped solve more than 2,300 cases of crime, including unlicensed moneylending, theft and outrage of modesty, said Mr Amrin.

Few cases of forged S'pore passports

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) investigated and prosecuted six cases of forged Singapore passports between 2015 and last year.

Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam also told Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar GRC) that ICA does not have records of the number of forged Singapore passports detected overseas, as the foreign authorities do not usually notify others when they detect forged passports.

He added that ICA detected an average of 80 forged foreign passports annually at its checkpoints between 2015 and last year.