Stiffer penalties and more visible punishments for litterbugs

[Yukimura Sanada]

Stiffer penalties and more visible punishments for litterbugs
By Jeremy Koh | Posted: 06 June 2010 1444 hrs
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SINGAPORE : Singapore may be clean and green. But its streets are not free of litter. Between 2005 and 2009, the number of offenders increased more than ten-fold - to over 41,000, in part due to increased enforcement.

Seven in ten of those caught are locals. Tougher penalties, like stiffer fines and greater public shaming, are being introduced to keep offenders at bay.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is also stepping up public engagement efforts, while making it easier for people to bin their trash.
This year's anti-littering campaign is based on the findings of a new survey, and its key objective is to fight littering, by tackling social habits.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim said: "The study shows that some people see occasional littering as alright. The message we want to tell them is, there's no such thing as occasional littering. A litter is litter, whether it's at your home, at your park, in the drain, it will affect all of us."

About 48 per cent of people surveyed also quoted "difficulty in locating bins" as the main reason for littering. Also, many litterbugs think they can get away. A majority feel that Corrective Work Order (CWO) is effective. That is why NEA has increased fines for first-time offenders - from $200 to $300.

Those on CWO will have to sweep town centres, so that the punishment is more visible. Litter bins will be placed in areas where there's a greater need, while smoking areas will have bins with ash trays. NEA also wants to ensure zero tolerance of litter.

Andrew Tan, CEO, National Environment Agency, said: "I cannot imagine how NEA on its part can be deploying double the number of people, triple the number of people, quadruple the number of people if the community itself does not now step in to say we do want to take action against litterbugs."

Besides training more volunteers to be Litter-Free Ambassadors, it's also launching an anti-littering publicity campaign. The aim is to reduce litter in public places by 20 per cent and cut the number of litterbugs - from four in ten of the population - to three in ten by 2015. - CNA/jy

 

[Yukimura Sanada]

Littering: A fine mess
Stiffer penalties, more enforcement to curb unsightly problem

by Ong Dai Lin
Updated 11:00 AM Jun 07, 2010

SINGAPORE - The next time you litter or throw a cigarette butt, you will be twice as likely to be spotted by an enforcement officer and will face a tougher Corrective Work Order (CWO) regime.

From today, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will increase uniformed patrols at littering hotspots such as bus-stops from one day to two days a week.

A one-year study commissioned by NEA, carried out from April last year, on the behavioural and sociological factors behind littering found that uniformed enforcement is effective in encouraging people not to litter.

NEA said the findings also showed that the CWO is an effective deterrent and "many CWO offenders felt that it's very embarrassing, and they recounted the process of attending court as unpleasant".

So NEA will now conduct more CWOs at badly-littered hotspots, such as the barbecue pits at East Coast Park. It will also make CWOs more visible by holding them in public areas with heavy human traffic such as neighbourhood centres and bus interchanges.

The month the study began, NEA increased the fine for first-time offenders who failed to properly dispose of small items - such as cigarette butts, sweet wrappers and parking coupon tabs - from $200 to $300. Besides serving a CWO, repeat offenders can be hit with fines of up to $5,000.

NEA will now increase penalties for first-time offenders if necessary. It is also working with the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Public Utilities Board (PUB) for them to follow the same penalty regime.

PUB imposes a $200 composite fine for first offenders, while repeat offenders will be hauled to court; NParks' penalty is a $300 fine for first or subsequent offences.

At the launch of the new anti-littering campaign yesterday, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said: "Strict enforcement will send a clear message to those who persist in littering - that littering isn't acceptable."

To give would-be litterbugs fewer excuses, NEA will increase the number and size of bins at areas with heavy human traffic as well as improve bin design to make it easier for smokers to dispose of their butts.

For instance, it will place both wall-mounted and freestanding canisters in Clarke Quay, Plaza Singapura and Raffles City as a pilot project.

"So on our part, we continue to make it convenient for people to bin their litter. But ... it's a social habit as to whether or not you make a conscious effort to try and gather whatever litter you have and find the nearest bin," said Dr Yaccob.

To increase public education, NEA has also introduced the Litter-Free Ambassador programme, in which students, youth and grassroots leaders educate the public through house-to-house visits and community events.

As he emphasised the importance of a clean city, Dr Yaacob shared how a man threw a cigarette pack wrapper out of a car, in front of him.

"He may think it's a small (piece of) plastic, but that plastic will fly, go into the drain, accumulate with other litter; it'll clog up our drains - then you get dengue fever," he said.

There is thus the need to "task people to begin to think of the consequences of their actions".

Sociologist Paulin Straughan, who completed a survey for NEA's study, feels that the new measures will be effective in the short run.

The next step is whether active citizenry will work.

"If it works, we'll have evolved as a society where people care about the environment. And NEA will just need to sustain their efforts," she told MediaCorp.

Nurse Zhuo Shuling, 25, said: "Most people know you aren't supposed to litter only because you'll be fined. It's not good to use fines to control the littering problem."

As such, 26-year-old copywriter Dunstan Lee suggested reinforcing the merits of living in a clean country.


What NEA will do

- Sustain stepped-up enforcement operations: 380 man-hours per day this year compared to 72 in 2006

- Have more visible Corrective Work Orders

- Work with town councils and shopping malls on positioning and design of bins. There will be larger-sized bins where foreign workers congregate

Higher number of littering offenders* due to stepped-up enforcement

- 2009: 41,392

- 2008: 33,164

- 2007: 21,269

- 2006: 7,027

- 2005: 3,819

Offenders caught in Q1 this year:

- 7,956 (vs 10,089 in Q1, 2009)

By 2015, NEA aims to:

- Reduce the amount of litter in hotspots and general public places by 20 per cent

- Reduce the number of people who may still litter from 4 in 10 to 3 in 10

* More than 90 per cent threw cigarette butts

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talkback
1 - 3 of 23 responses to "Littering: A fine mess"

John Potus
Updated 10:07 PM June 07, 2010


" More than 90 per cent threw cigarette butts"


Simple, stop selling cigarettes. Population will be a lot healthier and less littering.

But wait, they will lose a very good source of revenue from cigarette tax.

This way collect revenue from taxes and fines.

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