COVID-19 vaccination, potholes and MOE policies on gender dysphoria to be discussed in Parliament

SINGAPORE: Singapore's COVID-19 vaccination programme and the side effects observed among those who have received the jab will be on the agenda when Parliament sits on Monday (Feb 1).

Thirteen Members of Parliament have filed questions on matters related to the vaccination.

MP Yip Hon Weng (PAP-Yio Chu Kang) asked if residents can be given the option of going for early vaccination if they have good reasons to travel abroad and at short notice.

Following reported deaths of elderly people in Norway after taking the Pfizer vaccine, MP Dennis Tan (WP-Hougang) asked if Singapore's Government will consult the expert committee on COVID-19 vaccination to review the inoculation strategy in Singapore, and whether additional precautions will be taken.

READ: Singapore starts vaccinating seniors against COVID-19 with pilot exercises in Tanjong Pagar, Ang Mo Kio

READ: Govt targeting one community vaccination centre in every town by end-March: Chan Chun Sing

Questions have also been submitted on potholes and other weather-induced problems on public roads such as soil erosion and landslips, with MP Melvin Yong (PAP-Radin Mas) asking the Transport Minister what recourse is there for motorists whose vehicles are damaged by potholes.

MP He Ting Ru (WP-Sengkang) asked what the Ministry of Education's policies and guidelines are on students with gender dysphoria, and how often it reviews these policies.

On green spaces and the zoning of Dover Forest for residential development, several MPs asked for the criteria by which land parcels are scheduled for development, and if the environmental impact of developing such spaces has been considered.

READ: The Dover Forest debate: Can nature and development co-exist in urbanised Singapore?

At the start of Monday's sitting, nine Nominated Members of Parliament will take their oaths of allegiance. Their two-and-a-half-year term started on Jan 21.

As previously announced, legislation will be introduced setting out the categories of serious offences for which data from COVID-19 contact tracing tool TraceTogether can be used for police investigations.

The legislation will be introduced on a Certificate of Urgency.

Several PAP MPs from the Government Parliamentary Committee for Sustainability and the Environment have also filed a parliamentary motion to address climate change and its impact on Singapore. 

According to the PAP in a media release, this is the first motion on the issue, initiated with key recommendations that the party's youth wing has put forth in its position paper on sustainability issues.