New COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act

New COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act

28 January 2021, Singapore – Back in April 2020, the Singapore Parliament has passed the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act which offered temporary relief to companies who were unable to perform their contractual obligations due on or after 1 February 2020 due to COVID-19.

The Act has been extended until 30 March 2021, and there have been further amendments to it, impacting the Construction and Process industries. As such, the Association, together with Mr David Shanmugam, Counsel of Netto & Magin LCC, organised a fourth webinar of the “COVID-19 Legal Webinar” series, to update ASPRI members on the new amendments.

The webinar began with Mr Shanmugam giving a recap of the wide range of reliefs made available under Section 5 of the Act. He then explained that contracting parties can apply to a government-appointed registrar for the appointment of an assessor to resolve disputes. This is to safeguard against unfair outcomes.

Subsequently, the assessor will decide whether the relevant contract is covered by the Act; and whether the party’s inability to perform contractual obligations was materially caused by a COVID-19 event.

Finally, the webinar transited into a Q&A session where members got the opportunity to clarify their concerns with Mr Shanmugam. ASPRI would like to thank both our members and Mr Shanmugam for attending and making this webinar possible.