SINGAPORE: Tower Transit Singapore has been awarded contracts for the Bulim and Sembawang-Yishun bus packages for a five-year period, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a news release on Wednesday (Sep 30).

The contracts are worth about S$1.03 billion, said LTA, adding that they will progressively start from the second quarter of 2021.

The Sembawang-Yishun package, currently operated by SMRT Buses, consists of 27 bus services. They will operate from the new Mandai Depot, which will be handed over to Tower Transit by October.

Tower Transit will also manage Sembawang and Yishun bus interchanges.

The Bulim package, which consists of 29 bus services, is already being operated by Tower Transit. It will continue to manage Bukit Batok and Jurong East bus interchanges.

TRANSITION OF AFFECTED WORKERS

LTA said SMRT employees affected by the changes must be offered jobs by the incoming operator, adding that their employment terms should not be worse than the terms they were under before the transition.

“Affected SMRT employees of the Sembawang-Yishun bus package will be protected by the Guidelines on Good Employment Practices in the Public Bus Industry,” LTA said. 

“All employees affected by new tender or change in bus service contracts must be offered a job by the incoming operator.”

In a Facebook post, Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) Melvin Yong said the union will work closely with SMRT and Tower Transit to ensure a “smooth transition” for affected workers. 

“The union is committed to working with the different public transport operators to take care of our bus workers and create a safe working environment for them,” Mr Yong said.

The tender for the Bulim and Sembawang-Yishun bus packages was called in November last year, and bus operators had the option to bid for either bus package or for both.

Tower Transit was awarded the contract for the combined package, because it received the highest total score taking into account both price and quality factors in its proposal, said LTA.

“If TTS (Tower Transit Singapore) performs well during the five-year term, LTA has the option to extend the contract term by another two years at the end of the five-year contract,” added the authority.

SINGAPORE: From next Wednesday (Oct 7), 19 mosques in Singapore will open up 50 more spaces for daily congregational prayers, as part of progressive reopening plans amid the COVID-19 outbreak. 

The increase of available slots from 50 to 100 worshippers is to “meet the demand from congregants at these mosques”, said the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) on Wednesday (Sep 30).

READ: COVID-19: 12 religious organisations will be allowed to hold services of up to 100 people as part of pilot

The selected mosques are as follows:

From October, 15,225 spaces will be offered for Friday prayers at 64 mosques across Singapore, said MUIS.

“MUIS eventually aims to gradually increase the number of prayer spaces to 30,000 slots every week,” added the council.

This will enable congregants to book a slot for Friday prayer every four to five weeks. To achieve this, some mosques will pilot accommodating up to 250 congregants across five zones.

When the online booking system for Friday prayers was first introduced in June, repeat bookings were only allowed after seven weeks.

MUIS also announced that from Oct 16, Friday prayer timings will be adjusted. The new timings are as follows:

Session 1: 12.45pm to 1.15pm

Session 2: 1.45pm to 2.15pm

Session 3: 2.45pm to 3.15pm

“Those who are unable to attain a slot for Friday prayers are given the flexibility to replace Friday prayer with Zuhur prayer and are encouraged to tune to SalamSG TV and other online platforms to listen to Friday sermon,” said MUIS.

“The Fatwa committee is also exploring and examining all options very carefully based on our religious principles and values, to see if other adaptations to our religious life and practices are needed,” it added.

Singapore reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, including three community cases – all of whom are work pass holders. 

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SINGAPORE: The electricity tariff for households will increase by about 9.3 per cent from the previous quarter for the October to December period, said SP Group on Wednesday (Sep 30).

Excluding Goods and Services Tax (GST), the tariff will increase from 19.6 cents to 21.43 cents per kWh, or by 1.83 cents, for the quarter ending Dec 31. Including GST, the fourth quarter rate is 22.93 cents per kWh.

This means that the average monthly electricity bill for families living in four-room flats will increase by S$7.01, before GST, said SP Group.

Despite the increase, the revised tariff and that of the preceding quarter are the lowest in the last three years, the company said.

READ: Air-conditioning – the unspoken energy guzzler in Singapore

“The increase this quarter is due to higher energy costs, which forms a major component of the electricity tariff and is paid to power generation companies.

“The remaining components of the tariff, consisting of network costs and market support services fees to SP Group and Market Administration and Power System Operation Fee to Energy Market Company and Power System Operator, remain unchanged,” added SP Group.

The electricity tariffs are reviewed quarterly based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority (EMA), the electricity industry regulator. The revised tariffs have been approved by the authority.

READ: How do electricity retailers charge lower prices than SP Group? 5 questions answered

The revised rate will apply only to consumers who are buying electricity from SP Group at the regulated tariff, said EMA in a separate statement.

As of end-June, about 47 per cent of Singapore’s 1.4 million household consumers have switched to a retailer in the Open Electricity Market, with the remaining 53 per cent continuing to buy electricity from SP Group, said an EMA spokesperson.