Updated: 04/12/2014 20:33 | By Channel NewsAsia
NEA steps up enforcement against littering offenders
SINGAPORE: Enforcement efforts against littering have been stepped up.
In the first quarter of this year, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has issued 4,255 tickets to littering offenders.
This is nearly half the number of tickets (9,346) issued last year.
On Saturday, NEA conducted its enforcement blitz at more than 30 littering hotspots islandwide, as plainclothes officers stood watch.
One university student was caught throwing his cigarette on the ground, and was fined S$300 on the spot.
Since April 1, fines for littering offenders have doubled.
The Environmental Public Health Act (EPHA) has been amended to deter those who continue to act irresponsibly.
Under the revised EPHA, the maximum court fines for littering offenders have been doubled since April 1 to $2,000 for a first conviction, $4,000 for a second conviction and $10,000 for third and subsequent convictions.
NEA said there are 92 littering hotspots in Singapore, mostly in town areas and near MRT stations.
Mr Derek Ho, director-general of Environmental Public Health Division at NEA, said: "We still tend to see more litter occurring in such congregated areas, maybe because when some people see that the place is littered, they think that it is okay to continue to add to the litter. So we tend to see that in places with a high congregation of people, (there is) a higher incidence of littering." - CNA/de
