Background Story: Gutter oil in Singapore? NEA Investigates men seen pumping contents of sewers
Oil village claims they have Type C license, but NEA list did not show their company name
Two men were caught pumping out gutter oil at Toa Payoh yesterday. Although the company to whom both men belonged claimed that it had a license from NEA for the operation, its name was not found on the Agency's website.
News of unidentified persons pumping out gutter oil had been circulating in the past few days. Just last month, a couple were caught doing so in Jurong West. The NEA is currently investigating the case.
Yesterday at 7.50 am, the police were alerted by members of the public that two men were drawing gutter oil at Blk 74, Toa Payoh Lorong 4. The two men fled upon seeing the police.
Feng Xiuzhu, who runs a coffeeshop in the area witnessed the incident. She recounted: "The two men ran very fast like they were running for their lives. They were pursued by three to four police officers."
She noted that every one to two weeks, there would be people going there to draw gutter oil on that spot though she was not sure if the two men yesterday were from the same group. They would usually come around 6 am with the entire operation lasting around 10 mins. As the sky is still dark at that time, she could not see the men's faces clearly.
The extraction operation, she said, would create a stench causing residents in the area to worry if it has an impact on their health.
The two men who gave the police the slip yesterday have been identified as being employees of Oil Village Singapore Pte Ltd. Its owner, Mr Tan, is currently assisting the Police in its investigation.
Mr Tan claimed that his company has been in operation for over 10 years and has a license from NEA for extracting gutter oil which is sold to Malaysia to be recycled into diesel . This is despite the fact that the company is not listed on NEA's website.
As to why the two men fled upon seeing the police officers, Mr Tan said that his employees had thought that a gang was coming after them.
According to NEA, companies extracting gutter oil are required to use a vacuum truck. This was not adhered to by Village Oil Pte Ltd.
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