NEWS
SINGAPORE F&B OPERATORS PETITIONED FOR REOPENING TO AVOID BUSINESSES FROM COLLAPSING
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
11-8-2021
Credit: Yu Kato/Unsplash
Singapore’s food and beverage (F&B) operators have called on the government to allow the sale of alcohol at premises until midnight and to accelerate job support and rent relief to stop businesses from collapsing.
Some 850 operators have joined hands to form the “Savefnbsg Coalition”, they sent a letter to Ministers Lawrence Wong, Gan Kim Yong and Ong Ye Kung yesterday calling for the re-opening nightlife businesses in Singapore.
Singapore has banned nightclubs, bars and KTV lounges from operating since last year because activities on the premises are seen as high risk.
According to a survey conducted by the Coalition, 80 percent of F&B businesses in Singapore have suffered a negative revenue impact of 75 percent or more, in the last two phases of COVID measrues alone between May to July 2021.
Another 43 per cent have undertaken working capital loans of up to SGD1.5million (USD1.1million), with another 8 percent having undertaken loans of between SGD1.5 million to SGD3million.
Seventy per cent have undertaken employee cost-savings measures such as lay-offs and salary cuts, and the same percentage have also requested for deferment on rent and debt repayments.
"For the last 18 months, in spite of having endured three cycles of business disruptions due to 'No dine-in' restrictions, F&B businesses have played an active role in helping to educate the public and enforcing Safe Management Measures to keep Singapore safe," the Coalition said in the letter sent to Ministers.
"In this spirit, we seek a collaborative approach with the government to provide regulated safe places for our community to gather and have healthy social interactions and expedite re-opening phases for F&B businesses to regain financial independence and become sustainable businesses again. F&B businesses are struggling to resume normalcy following three rounds of closures in the last 18 months. Many have depleted their cash flow and are at risk of permanent closure."
The coalition has also requested the government to bring forward the Job Support Scheme as well as the Rent Relief Scheme disbursements to support and sustain jobs.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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