AT THE COURTS
Four young people at New Year's Eve party to be charged today
Spontaneous event at Clarke Quay saw many revellers breaching Covid-19 safety measures
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
Four young people who allegedly breached multiple Covid-19 safe management measures at a New Year's Eve party at Clarke Quay will be charged in court today.
The four are aged between 19 and 22, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.
Another four people who were at the party on Dec 31 last year have already been fined $1,000 each for breaching safe management measures.
The incident, which was captured on video and uploaded on social media, is believed to have involved hundreds of people in a spontaneous countdown party in front of Riverside Point.
The multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 had said it involved blatant breaches of safe management rules, calling it a potential super-spreading event.
Videos showed the rowdy crowd cheering, singing, celebrating and counting down to the new year. Many also had their masks pulled down. One man was captured on video standing on an elevated platform, pouring liquid from a bottle into the crowd.
Staff of eateries in the area later told The Straits Times that trash, including alcohol bottles and beer cans, was strewn along the entire stretch the next morning.
A worker at a nearby convenience store said the crowd dispersed only at about 4am.
In its statement yesterday, the URA said enforcement agencies have been investigating the incident.
"Further investigations into other individuals are ongoing, and enforcement action will be taken against them if they are found to have breached any safe management measures, which are put in place to protect the public," said the statement.
"As we are still in the midst of a pandemic, it is important that everyone is socially responsible and complies with the prevailing safe management measures, such as the proper wearing of masks, maintaining a distance of 1m between each other and remaining in groups of five individuals or fewer."
It added that agencies will be stepping up enforcement of the measures across the island in the lead-up to Chinese New Year.
"The authorities will not hesitate to take enforcement action against errant individuals and food and beverage premises," it said.
"We urge everyone to play their part to protect their own health and that of others."
