SINGAPORE - Boustead Projects E&C was fined $94,000 on Monday (March 28) for using unmanned drones at its construction sites without the relevant permits.

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boustead Projects.

In a filing on Tuesday, the real estate solutions provider said it pleaded guilty to 10 charges, eight of which were for flying a small unmanned aircraft without a Class 1 activity permit at the construction sites in 18 Kranji Loop and Cleantech Loop in 2020.

Another two charges were added for the failure to operate an unmanned aircraft at the Cleantech site in accordance with the Class 1 activity permit granted to the company.

The contraventions, according to the firm, came amid its efforts to leverage on technology to increase the efficiency and productivity of its operations, and to mitigate the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Another 69 charges, which were announced by the group on Aug 4, 2021, were also taken into consideration for sentencing.

The company has since reviewed and implemented a standard operating procedure regarding permit applications and dissemination, so that such issues will not occur in the future.

In February, the Singapore branch of the China Railway First Group, a construction company, was fined $22,000 for flying an unmanned drone in public areas without a permit.

The company used a DJI Mavic 2 Zoom drone weighing nearly 900g on nine occasions between April 19 and June 19 last year, the court heard.

For each offence under the Air Navigation Act, an offender can be fined up to $50,000 and jailed for up to two years.

The share price of mainboard-listed Boustead Projects closed unchanged at 96.5 cents on Tuesday.
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