NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY:

(Changes to processes): 5.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources what changes will the National Environment Agency make to its processes in the light of the food poisoning cases from the Geylang Serai Temporary Market that took place in April 2009.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Sir, a total of 154 people came down with food poisoning between 1st and 4th April this year, after consuming Indian rojak purchased from stall No. 320 in Geylang Serai temporary market. Forty-eight of them required hospitalisation and there were also two deaths associated with the outbreak.

Investigations by the Ministry of Health concluded that the outbreak is likely caused by a lapse in food preparation or storage, resulting in the cross-contamination of the Indian rojak with raw seafood ingredients harbouring the food-borne pathogen, Vibrio parahaemolyticus. As the stallholder discarded all the food before our officers arrived at the scene, it is not possible to determine how the cross-contamination occurred. Nevertheless, given the mass food poisoning, it is clear that the stallholder allowed food unfit for human consumption to be sold at his stall. Our officers also uncovered other hygiene lapses such as cockroach infestation at the stall.

The stallholder has been suspended from operating his stall in the Geylang Serai temporary market. He and his food handlers are also barred from working in any other food establishment until the Coroner’s Inquiry into the two deaths are completed. NEA is awaiting the outcome of the Inquiry before prosecuting the licensee in Court.

Sir, despite this unfortunate incident, I wish to assure the House that we have an effective regime that has contributed to the high standard of food hygiene in Singapore. In the past three years, an average of 0.3% of the 26,000 food establishments licensed by NEA were implicated in food poisoning outbreaks each year. The introduction of the food stall grading scheme in 1997 also led to a steady improvement in the hygiene standards of our food establishments. Today, more than 80% of them are graded "A" or "B", a vast improvement from the 46% in 2002.

However, Sir, the outbreak demonstrates the need to strengthen our regime to uphold the high standards and to minimise the recurrence of such outbreaks. My Ministry and NEA have undertaken a comprehensive review of the regime to identify areas that can be fine-tuned. And let me now touch on the enhancements that we will be making.

First, NEA will bring down the current ratio of one officer inspecting 800 food establishments to one per 400. This will allow more frequent inspections to be carried out to detect any hygiene lapses. NEA officers will also continue to highlight to the operators the specific areas that require improvement during the inspections. NEA will consider a risk-centric approach to managing food hygiene that takes into account the different risks that could be associated with different food establishments or food types.

For added deterrence, NEA will impose stiffer penalties for food hygiene offences. The composition sums for such offences will be raised from the current $100, to between $200 and $400, depending on the severity. NEA will also prosecute errant licensees with two or more previous suspensions, and they will face a Court fine of up to $2,000. In situations where the hygiene lapses pose a serious public health concern, NEA will order the premises to be closed for thorough cleaning. These licensees may also have their licenses suspended or revoked.

Although NEA will deploy more food hygiene inspectors, they cannot be everywhere all the time. Food establishments must therefore play their part to maintain high standards of hygiene. Restaurants and caterers are currently required by NEA to have at least one employee trained as a Food Hygiene Officer (FHO) to conduct daily checks on the cleanliness and upkeep of the premises as well as the food and personal hygiene practices of the food handlers. Sir, NEA, will progressively extend this requirement to other licensed premises, including canteens, food-courts and coffeeshops. NEA will consult the industry on the implementation details. NEA will also require all food handlers to undergo a refresher course in food hygiene once every three years to ensure sustained awareness about best practices.

I hope that Members will also encourage operators in your constituencies to improve their hygiene standards and aim for better gradings. I would like to commend Mdm Cynthia Phua and her grassroots leaders for their efforts in raising the standards of all the "C" grade stalls in Blk 209 Hougang St 21 to a minimum of "B".

The current grading scheme for food establishments focuses on the standards of individual stalls. In the longer-term, to incentivise operators to place greater emphasis on the overall hygiene standards of their premises, including the cleanliness of tables, public toilets and common areas, NEA is studying the feasibility of introducing a premise-wide grading for hawker centres, coffeeshops and food courts.

Sir, I shall now move on to the measures to tighten the standards at temporary markets and food centres.

The Government currently allocates vacant state land at no cost to the Citizens Consultative Committees (CCCs) to build temporary markets and food centres. The CCC may choose to appoint a Management Committee, the relevant Town Council or a professional managing agent to build and manage the premises. This arrangement has worked well with 35 temporary markets constructed by the CCCs to date. Sir, my Ministry has no plans to take over the building or management of temporary markets. The provision of temporary markets is not included under the Government Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme. In fact, not all hawker centres require a temporary market during upgrading, for reasons such as a relatively short upgrading period, or stallholders preferring to take a break from their trade.

However, Sir, the rodent infestation at the Geylang Serai temporary market, although not related to the food poisoning outbreak, highlights the need to establish clear expectations on the hygiene standards of our temporary markets and accountabilities in their operation. NEA will better align the hygiene and sanitary practices at temporary markets and food centres with those of permanent centres by issuing a set of guidelines specifying the expected standard of cleanliness and upkeep for overall premises to the centres’ management. The guidelines will apply to temporary markets and food centres built from 1st June onwards.

To ensure clearer accountability, with effect from 1st June, the operator of temporary markets or food centres must be either a registered society or a professional managing agent. This operator will be licensed by the NEA and held liable for any public health lapse. NEA will not hesitate to take action against the operator in situations when there is a serious public health concern, as in the case of the rodent infestation at the Geylang Serai temporary market.

Sir, the delay in issuing the grading decals to the food stalls at the Geylang Serai temporary market was a lapse on NEA’s part and I take a serious view of this. NEA has since tightened its internal procedures and all grading decals issued will now bear a one-year validity period. Following reassessment, temporary grading decals will be issued on the spot for immediate display. These will then be exchanged for the new ones with the stallholders acknowledging receipt. I have also asked the NEA to conduct a thorough review of other internal processes on hawker management to address areas where improvements are needed.

Apart from the concerns with our food hygiene standards, we are still in the midst of a global spread of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus. To reinforce the importance of good environmental and personal hygiene amongst premise operators and their patrons, the NEA re-launched the Singapore OK (SOK) campaign, targeting hawker centres, markets, food shops and public toilets. A premise is accorded the SOK status only when all stakeholders, from the management to the cleaners and stallholders, pledge to sustain their efforts in keeping the premises clean and hygienic. NEA will also expand the scope of the Inter-Agency Cleanliness Task Force to coordinate public and private sector efforts to address public hygiene issues. This will sustain public awareness of the importance of personal hygiene through a "whole-of-community" approach.

Sir, I am confident that the measures that NEA will be introducing will enhance food hygiene standards in Singapore. Nonetheless, hygiene lapses can still occur if food handlers and patrons let their guard down. This is where every Singaporean can play an important role in helping to enforce standards. People can put pressure on food handlers who blatantly disregard good food hygiene practices by not patronising these stalls or pointing out the lapses. They can also be our eyes and ears, alerting us to food handlers who have violated the rules.

If every Singaporean makes good personal hygiene a priority, and our food handlers practise good food hygiene as second nature, our food centres and establishments will be much cleaner and healthier places for all.

Mr Inderjit Singh: Sir, I think the requirement to license managing agents or registered organisations is unfair. NEA is trying to pass the buck to someone else. Most of the markets in our constituencies are not run by official registered organisations. So it looks like the CCCs or the Town Councils will have to bear this burden. I think NEA need to bear greater responsibility rather than to pass the buck to the rest of the organisations.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, we are not passing the buck as alleged by Mr Inderjit Singh. Someone has to be responsible for the temporary market. First, the temporary market is not allocated under the HUP. It is up to the adviser and the grassroots organisations to decide. So if they so decide to have a temporary market because the stallholders want one, therefore, they have to be responsible.

In fact, so far we have 35 temporary markets, of which 29 have been managed by the CCCs and six of them have been managed by the Town Councils. So there are entities out there able, capable, willing to manage. It does not mean NEA will not be responsible. We will still be enforcing the hygiene standards. We will still go down and check to ensure that there are no lapses. But someone has to bear the responsibility. We will be responsible for permanent centres. But temporary centres are a result of the decision made by grassroots leaders and their advisers, not by NEA.

Mr Speaker: Mdm Cynthia Phua. Final question. ****

Mdm Cynthia Phua (Aljunied): Sir, I would like to thank NEA for the support, especially for the Kovan Centre, in upgrading our "C" stalls to the "B" stalls.

Sir, I just want to ask the question that when did the NEA last check the stall before the incident happened. Because this will relate to the ratio of one officer to 400 stalls. And how often would the periodic checks be, in relation to the higher ratio? Can the Minister help?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: I do not have the exact details of when was the last time that we checked the Geylang Serai temporary market. But the morning that we went to check, it was after we had been alerted to some hygiene lapses.

But to answer Mdm Cynthia Phua's second question as what would the frequency be, if now I am able to increase the number of officers at NEA to check for all the stalls, regardless of whether you are "A" or "B" or "C" or "D", we will now check you once a fortnight. Previously, the frequency ranges from once in six weeks to once in eight weeks. Now with the additional manpower, I am able to do a bit more and, irrespective of the grading level, I want to ensure that it is a constant inspection regime across the board.

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