NEA officer terminated for vaping right after issuing summons to smokers

An enforcement officer from the National Environment Agency (NEA) was terminated right after he was filmed vaping in public.

The officer, dressed in plainclothes was seen vaping outside Golden Mile Tower. The incident was captured on video by Facebook user Sam Sam and uploaded on Nov 16.

According to The New Paper, the officer had caught a man smoking illegally inside Golden Mile Tower on Nov 16.

Because the man was uncooperative and refused to stop smoking inside the building the police were called down. In photographs circulating on social media, NEA officers and policemen can be seen standing around the man and talking to him.

Along with that photo, a video of the NEA officer in plainclothes vaping was circulated. The short clip showed the officer taking a puff from a vaporiser, while sitting with another officer.

According to media queries, NEA said that they were aware of the video, and shared that they investigated the incident immediately.

The agency confirmed that the outsourced enforcement officer had indeed been using a vaporiser, or e-cigarette.

On NEA’s instruction, the service provider has since terminated the man from his contract.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has also taken action against the officer under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, a TNP report stated.

Since February 2018, it is illegal to possess, purchase or use vaporisers in Singapore.

Anyone caught doing so can be fined up to S$2,000, while those caught selling, distributing, or importing vaporisers can be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for six months, or both. -/TISG