Worker safety issues at food delivery and courier firms

Nearly nine in 10 food delivery and courier services companies that the Manpower Ministry inspected last year had safety and health issues, putting staff at risk.

The ministry inspected 50 such companies, and issued 71 notices to 44 errant firms for infringing workplace safety and health regulations, Minister of State for Manpower Sam Tan told Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar GRC).

The errant companies have since fixed the safety lapses and conducted proper risk assessments, said Mr Tan, adding that there will be similar inspections this year on delivery companies and couriers.

Few cases of parents lying to get children enrolled

There have been fewer than 10 cases over the past decade of parents providing false information to secure a place for their children in a school.

In cases where parents have been convicted and charged with providing such false information, the pupil affected will be transferred to another school with available vacancies, Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng told Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio GRC) yesterday. The new school will give the pupil any educational and emotional support needed.

It was reported last month that a couple was fined $9,000 for lying about their home address to enrol their child into a popular school in the Bishan area.

Steps taken to avoid Nets disruption

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has taken steps to prevent a repeat of an hour-long islandwide Nets service disruption that took place on Feb 2, which was caused by human error during maintenance works.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC) that MAS has instructed e-payment giant Nets to appoint an independent consultant to determine how controls can be enhanced to minimise the chances of human errors, and to mitigate the consequences if an error does occur.