Workers’ Party Chairman Sylvia Lim was in court today as the court hearing into the case of the WP run town council allegedly holding an unlicensed trade fair started.
Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) has been accused of holding an unlicensed fair earlier this year during Chinese New Year.
They had organised a trade fair at the Hougang Central Hub which was supposed to start on January 9 this year.
However, the National Environment Agency had shut the fair down before it could be started as NEA claimed that town councils are not allowed to engage in commercial activities as these fall outside of their statutory function of managing and maintaining the common property.
In fact, AHPETC had been discussing with NEA that they were going to be holding the fair since as early as December 20 last year. They had already outlined the way that the residents would benefit from the fair.
However, they were apparently not approved or licensed to run the fair despite the early communications with NEA. Under Section 35 of the Environmental Public Health Act, it is an offence to run a temporary fair without a permit. .
If found guilty, the AHPETC could be fined $5000.
The town council is being represented by lawyers Peter Low and Terence Tan of Peter Low LLC. The case will be heard again next Monday.