SINGAPORE — Firms delivering a range of essential services with fewer members of staff are given priority during the circuit breaker in line with the goal of reducing social interactions, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing told Parliament on Monday (May 4).

He contrasted these firms with standalone essential services firms, which may be asked to pare down the staff they employ or be asked to close.

Mr Chan explained that as consumer demand declines, the Government hoped to eventually combine the services provided by various companies.

“For those companies that provide a series of services in an aggregated manner with a minimum number of staff required, we will be able to prioritise them and help them to continue their operations,” he said.

“Companies that have standalone operations and require perhaps a disproportionate (number) of staff, we will advise them to restructure their operations to pare down the numbers, or if not, to temporarily suspend their operations for the moment.”

Some food services, for example, have been asked to wind down as part of the circuit breaker restrictions, said Mr Chan.

The minister was responding to a question from Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Sylvia Lim. She said that some essential services have been asked to suspend operations as part of tighter circuit breaker measures, even though they know of others in the same industry that have not been told to do so.

Ms Lim, who represents Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, asked about the guidelines used by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to decide which companies should close or continue, even though they provide essential services in the same industry.

The circuit breaker measures, which began on April 7 to curb the spread of Covid-19, were tightened from April 22 to further reduce the share of Singapore’s workforce who commute daily from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.

Mr Chan also acknowledged that deciding which companies are permitted to continue running or asked to close is a continuing process.

“We work with all the essential firms and companies to size up the demand for their workforce. And depending on the period of the circuit breaker, at different points in time, they will require different sets of workers for both operations and for safe maintenance,” he said.