SINGAPORE — The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Sunday (May 17) ordered several food-and-beverage (F&B) outlets at Robertson Quay that were found selling takeaway alcohol to stop doing so immediately.

The authority said that by selling takeaway alcohol, these establishments had contributed to more people gathering around these premises.

It issued the order a day after a post by Facebook user Lectress Pat, who spotted crowds of people gathered in the area, went viral.

Pictures of people exercising and cycling in the area, as well as those standing outside a restaurant with half-empty cups of beer on the table, accompanied the post.

The post, which has been shared more than 1,800 times as of 7pm on Sunday, read: “While there were two enforcers and one police officer along the Alexandra park connector, there was not a single enforcer in sight at Robertson Quay, which is like five minutes away.

“And it was observed that staff of these F&B establishments did nothing to stop these people from drinking at their premises nor did they remove the standing tables.”

URA said in response to TODAY’s queries that it was aware of the online posts.

“During our safe distancing patrols at Robertson Quay, our officers found the majority of operators and individuals to be compliant with safe distancing measures,” it said on Sunday.

“However, we observed that some restaurants in the area were selling takeaway alcohol to patrons, which had contributed to more individuals gathering around these premises.

“To prevent such gatherings from taking place, we have issued a written direction to these restaurants to cease the sale of takeaway alcohol with immediate effect. Any contravention of such directions is an offence and we will not hesitate to take such parties to task.”

The authority also warned that individuals found to be in breach of safe distancing measures will be fined.

AREA BUSTLING WITH JOGGERS, CYCLISTS AND FAMILIES

When TODAY arrived at Robertson Quay at about 2pm on Sunday, the stretch of footpath along the bars and restaurants was bustling with joggers, cyclists and people strolling with their children in tow.

A 41-year-old hotel receptionist who wanted to be known only as Doreen said: “It has been this crowded… since one or two weeks ago. I think a lot of them are taking the safe distancing measures very lightly.

“I’ve seen some of them walk around without masks on, especially in the evenings. It’s like they don’t care.”

At about 2.45pm, two officers — one wearing a vest with the letters URA on the back and another with a red arm band — were seen moving from one restaurant to another.

Mr Michael Lim, the store manager of Toby’s Estate cafe, said that the number of people exercising, taking walks and cycling with their children in the area has tripled, compared to before stay-home restrictions started in early April.

This, he said, becomes a problem when people start gathering around the premises of his cafe.

When the authorities announced on April 3 that people could no longer dine in at F&B outlets, he had all the tables and chairs in the cafe’s alfresco area stacked and locked up outside the store. But some patrons then unstacked the chairs and sat on them, he said.

“If they are waiting for their orders, I let them stay… but not more than 10 minutes, because that is the time we take to fulfil orders.

“Those who are just sitting around, I usually ask them to leave the premises,” Mr Lim said, adding that he has since shifted all his chairs indoors.

A store manager at Botany cafe Aldreen Barron said that he does the same thing, but with limited staff members and an overwhelming number of orders during busy periods, he does not have the time to tell those lingering in its alfresco area to leave the premises.

There are also the stubborn ones who refused to listen and some even insisted on having their meals there, the store managers said.

At Japanese restaurant Dashi Master Marusaya, a manager who wanted to be known only as Andrew said that there were several instances where he had to repeatedly tell customers to leave.

“Some of them are just stubborn… they will not gather in our premises but outside. How can we stop them?”

The day before, a photo of three people drinking outside a beer bar called Tap went viral.

On Sunday, Tap took to Facebook to clarify that the tables pictured in the viral post do not belong to it: “Although these tables did not belong to our restaurant, we would like to take this opportunity to highlight to everyone the importance of respecting and adhering to the rules.”

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