Strong demand for barbecue pits, camp permits

Singaporeans looking to return to barbecuing in parks will have to wait for a while.

Barbecue pits in popular venues such as East Coast Park are fully booked for the weekend, with yesterday being the first day that these outdoor social spaces for public use were reopened after being unavailable since last year.

Checks on the AXS booking system by The Straits Times (ST) showed that barbecue pits in East Coast Park are fully booked until tomorrow. The pits at Pasir Ris Park and Changi Beach Park have also been snapped up for the rest of the weekend.

The National Parks Board (NParks) told ST that it has processed about 310 barbecue pit bookings and 1,090 camping permits for the weekend.

Slots for the following weekend are also in high demand, with 250 barbecue pits booked and 740 camping permits issued for March 25 to 27 across all parks with the amenities.

Campers have also rushed to secure weekend permits to camp on offshore islands. Island campsites will be reopened from March 29.

As at Thursday, the Singapore Land Authority has issued 24 permits for Eagle Lodge on St John's Island and 68 permits for campsites on Lazarus Island and Pulau Hantu Besar.

Most of the permits for weekends and public holidays were snapped up, with "only a few weekend slots left available" from March 29 until June 18.

The reopening of barbecue pits and campsites comes after Singapore announced its simplified Covid-19 safe management measures on March 11 due to the receding threat of Omicron and falling number of infections.

Since Tuesday, Singaporeans can, via the AXS system, apply for camping permits and the use of barbecue pits in gardens and parks managed by NParks.

HDB residents can also book barbecue pits in their estates through their town councils.

Bookings for campsites on offshore islands were also opened on Tuesday.

Users of the facilities must comply with the prevailing permitted group size limit - up to five people are allowed at each barbecue pit or campsite.

Civil servant Alex Ong, 44, said the move to reopen campsites and public barbecue pits was "long overdue".

Mr Ong, who was at East Coast Park yesterday with his wife, two children and a friend, said: "If anything, these outdoor activities should continue to be allowed even if we need to tighten the rules again due to an escalating Covid-19 situation because their risk of spreading Covid-19 is lower than that of indoor activities."

But some people, such as educator Nur Muliani, 34, said restrictions, especially for barbecue pits, should remain.

Madam Muliani, who was at East Coast Park with her husband and two children, one of whom is four years old and not vaccinated against Covid-19, said: "We are still excited, but I feel that it would be difficult to ensure people remain in groups of five at a barbecue because it will be hard to stop people from mixing."