Parliament is sitting next Monday (March 20)

Five MPs have filed questions on a programme by SportSG and its partners which involved the recycling of old shoes into community infrastructure

However, some of the shoes ended up being resold in Indonesia

Other questions filed by MPs include the topic of child abuse

For the sitting of Parliament next Monday (March 20), Members of Parliament (MPs) have filed questions on a programme run by Sport Singapore (SportSG) and partners, in which shoes that were supposed to be recycled into community infrastructure ended up being resold in Indonesia.

The "old shoe new future" project is a recycling initiative led by SportSG and petrochemicals giant Dow Inc launched in July 2021 in an effort to recycle sports shoes into material used in facilities such as fitness corners and playgrounds.

However, an investigation by news agency Reuters which tracked some of the donated shoes using a device implanted in the footwear found that most of the shoes it tracked ended up on sale in Indonesia.

SportSG and its partners later apologised and announced that they were terminating the services of their subcontractor, Yok Impex, which collected the donated shoes and sorted them.

A total of five MPs filed questions about the revelations.

Mr Dennis Tan, MP for Hougang Single Member Constituency, asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong why the donated shoes designated for recycling were found by the press not to be recycled as planned.

He also asked what the ministry was doing to strengthen oversight to ensure proper implementation of such programmes.

Dr Tan Wu Meng of Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) asked about the number of second-hand shoes that have been misdirected and exported for overseas resale after being collected from the public for the recycling initiative.

He also asked if any criminal offences have been disclosed.

The topic of child abuse is also on the agenda for the upcoming sitting.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC asked the Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli for the number of child abuse cases detected in the past year through channels such as the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline, as well as proactive investigations by the Child Protective Service.

He also asked what enforcement powers are available to overcome active concealment by abusive parents.

In response to TODAY's queries, Mr Supaat said that his questions follow a recent court case where an 11-year-old girl died from head injuries after being abused by her mother and stepfather.

Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam why Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern have been named while being investigated for giving false evidence in judicial proceedings when the names of the six former management staff of Keppel Offshore & Marine were not disclosed during investigation.

Several Bills will be up for their second reading as well, including the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill and Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill.

Proposed amendments to the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill were tabled in Parliament on Feb 24.

Under the amended Bill, psychoactive substances will be classified based on their capacity to produce a psychoactive effect, rather than the current classification by chemical structure.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by CHARLENE GOH

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