Snippets

19,000 SMOKING TICKETS HANDED OUT

Last year, around 19,000 tickets were issued to offenders caught for smoking at prohibited areas, revealed Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor.

And out of this number, 2,600 were dished out in food establishments, she added, responding to a question from Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC).

More than 32,000 places now prohibit smoking, Dr Khor said, but the Government cannot watch over every location or respond to all reports of smoking in prohibited places. The onus lies on operators and managers of smoke-free premises who have a legal duty to stop patrons from smoking, she said.

"In cases where they do not stop smoking or leave the premises, the operator or manager of the premises can seek assistance from the National Environment Agency (NEA)," said Dr Khor, who added that NEA took out 400 enforcement actions against operators and managers of premises who "had not fulfilled their duty under the law".

SAFETY BARRIERS 
ON PLATFORMS

All stations on the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) and all MRT stations now have safety barriers installed at their platforms to protect commuters from falling. Come next year, all Sengkang-Punggol LRT stations will have them too.

Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng provided these updates while responding to a question by Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera, who had asked what measures were in place to handle accidents where people fall onto train tracks.

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Mr Ng told the House that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT, which operates BPLRT, are also testing out a video analytics system that can alert train operators to incidents on the tracks.

He added that LTA, SMRT and SBS Transit will do more to raise awareness about what to do in such accidents.

HEALTHIER FOOD MAY COST MORE, FOR NOW

Food that is good for you might cost more because initial demand is lower, explained Senior Minister of State for Health Chee Hong Tat yesterday.

"During the initial phase when the healthier products are being introduced, they will have to go through this phase where consumers are getting used to it and the demand is not quite picking up," he said.

Mr Chee was replying to a question filed by Mr Chong Kee Hiong (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), who had asked about the price difference between healthier foods and normal ones. - HARIZ BAHARUDIN