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Clarke Quay New Year's Eve: 4 to be charged, another 4 fined for COVID SMM breaches

A deserted stretch of Clarke Quay seen on 25 May 2021. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)
A deserted stretch of Clarke Quay seen on 25 May 2021. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE —Four individuals aged 19 to 22 will be charged for breaching COVID rules during an incident at Clarke Quay on New Year's Eve, while another four have been fined, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday (24 January).

The charges will be filed against four individuals for allegedly breaching multiple safe management measures (SMMs) under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020, URA said in a statement. The other four have been served notices of composition of $1,000 each for breaching SMMs.

Further investigations into other individuals are ongoing, and enforcement action will be taken against them if they are found to have breached any SMMs.

The agencies will be stepping up SMM enforcement efforts across Singapore in the lead up to the Lunar New Year, URA added. "We urge everyone to play their part to protect their own health and that of others."

In early January, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force on COVID-19 (MTF), said that enforcement agencies are combing through CCTV footage of the spontaneous gathering at Clarke Quay, and different individuals will be called in for "interviews".

The crowd grew too large for police officers at the scene to control, according to media reports that cited eyewitnesses. Wong did not address whether sufficient numbers of enforcement officers had been deployed on the final day of 2021 at Clarke Quay, a popular spot for partygoers.

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