BEDOK BAZAAR CARRIED ON FOR FIRST 3 DAYS ILLEGALLY, NO PERMITS ISSUED

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Well, this is a surprise! The Bedok bazaar, which had been ongoing since Saturday, 1 July, actually did not have a licence to operate there from 1 July to 3 July! That means, for three days, the many stalls selling their goods, be it food or other items such as clothes and plants, were actually operating illegally.

And to make things worse, the three days was a long weekend. Saturday, Sunday and Monday, which was a Youth Day holiday for many, and thus the stalls there must have made a huge profit from selling illegally! An NEA spokesman confirmed that the ts officers had found stalls operating at an unlicensed bazaar at the open area between Blocks 84 and 89, Bedok North Avenue 4 last Saturday. Despite repeated warnings from the agency, the bazaar continued operating without a permit.

NEA said that they would take actions against the operators for the three days of illegal operations. The bazaar did receive their permit on Tuesday, 4th July, and the bazaar will be in operation there until the 16 July. Was this a case of the operator leaving the licence application until the last minute that they only receive the green light to operate three days after the start date, or was it because someone at NEA did not process the application quickly enough?

Isaac Tham

A.S.S. Contributor