Singapore legislation

Section 62C

of Environmental Public Health Act 1987

Section 62C

Power to give directives

Amended by33/202033/202033/202033/202033/202033/202033/202033/2020

(1)

The Director-General may, with the approval of the Minister, give a directive in such form and manner as the Director‑General thinks fit, in respect of any premises or class of premises (called in this section the relevant premises), or any public service vehicle or class of public service vehicles (called in this section the relevant vehicle) if it appears to the Director‑General that —

(a)

the use of the relevant premises or the operation of the relevant vehicle is likely to endanger the health of any person and the directive is necessary to prevent or manage that risk; or

(b)

the directive is necessary to prevent or manage the outbreak or spread of any infectious disease.

Amended by33/2020

(2)

A directive given under subsection (1) must be complied with by the following persons (called in this section the responsible person):

(a)

where the directive applies to any relevant premises — the manager of those premises;

(b)

where the directive applies to any relevant vehicle — the operator of that vehicle.

Amended by33/2020

(3)

Without limiting subsection (1), a directive given under that subsection may require the responsible person to do all or any of the following:

(a)

close the relevant premises, or any part of the relevant premises, for a period not exceeding 14 days for the purpose of cleaning or disinfecting the relevant premises, or any part of the relevant premises;

(b)

clean or disinfect the relevant premises or the relevant vehicle in the manner and within the time specified in the directive;

(c)

provide every individual who is to carry out the cleaning or disinfecting of the relevant premises or relevant vehicle with appropriate personal protective equipment, and ensure that the individual wears the personal protective equipment when carrying out the cleaning or disinfecting work.

Amended by33/2020

(4)

The Director-General may, with the approval of the Minister, by written notice, renew any directive mentioned in subsection (3)(a) for any period (not exceeding 14 days each time) specified in the notice.

Amended by33/2020

(5)

Where a directive under subsection (1) or a notice of renewal under subsection (4) applies to or affects a class of responsible persons, it may be published in any manner that the Director‑General thinks necessary for bringing it to the notice of those responsible persons.

Amended by33/2020

(6)

Any responsible person that fails to comply with a directive given under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —

(a)

for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $5,000; and

(b)

for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

Amended by33/2020

(7)

Without affecting any proceedings under subsection (6), if a responsible person fails to comply with any directive given under subsection (1) —

(a)

the Director-General may without warrant and with such force as may be necessary, enter the relevant premises or the relevant vehicle and take or cause to be taken any steps which the Director‑General considers to be necessary to secure compliance with the directive; and

(b)

the responsible person is liable for any costs and expenses incurred by the Director‑General in exercise of the powers conferred under paragraph (a).

Amended by33/2020

(8)

A reference in this section to a directive given under subsection (1) includes, where subsection (4) applies, a reference to the renewed directive under subsection (4).

Amended by33/2020