Number of litter bugs in Singapore up nine-fold in past two years

Number of litter bugs issued CWO up nine-fold in past two years
Pearl Forss/Ng Lian Cheong, Channel NewsAsia 14 Dec 08;

SINGAPORE: The number of litterbugs caught has been on the rise over the last two years. As of end November, over 1,050 offenders have been issued with Corrective Work Orders (CWO) so far this year.

If not for Sunday morning's downpour, littering offenders would've had to serve out their Corrective Work Orders amid the full glare of the media. They'd all been caught littering more than once.

But since the rain didn't stop, their CWO session had to be postponed.

Since 2006, the number of litterbugs caught has gone up significantly.

In the first 11 months of this year alone, 30,200 tickets for littering were issued.

This is in part due to stepped-up enforcement by the National Environment Agency.

In the last two years, it's increased time spent on enforcement by 3.5 times to 322 man hours per day.

Consequently, the number of CWOs meted out over the same period has also gone up nine-fold to 1,052 as of last month.

In 2006, only 122 offenders were issued with CWOs.

Tai Ji Choong, head, Operations, Environmental Health Department, National Environment Agency, said: "CWO has up till now still been effective because the number of repeat offenders has remained low and fairly consistent over the years. In fact, for the last five years, repeat offenders have not exceeded three per cent."

Over 60 per cent of offenders are young people below the age of 30.

S$37 million of taxpayers’ money is spent each year cleaning the streets. - CNA/vm

Numbers that bug
Nine times more Corrective Work Orders dispensed than two years ago; NEA says scheme is effective

Zul Othman, Today Online 15 Dec 08;

TRIPLING its enforcement efforts to net litterbugs has paid off for the National Environment Agency (NEA): Already this year, 30,214 have been ticketed, a third more than those caught last year, and four times up from two years ago.

The culprits are mostly male, under 30 and usually smokers. They are, contrary to some assumptions, also mostly local — just 35.9 per cent of those caught were foreigners, as of August.

While nine times more Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) have been handed out this year than in 2006 — and twice more than last year — is this mode of punishing litterbugs proving effective?

This question comes at a time when the authorities are looking at the touted success of the 15-year-old CWO scheme as a model for alternative sentences to jail and a fine, for other minor offences.

The NEA believes it has proven most effective. “The number of repeat offenders have remained low and fairly consistent over the years,” said NEA head of operations Tai Ji Choong.

“In fact, over the last year, the number of repeat offenders has not exceeded 3 per cent.”

Under the law, those caught throwing cigarette butts and sweet wrappers are fined $200, but repeat offenders and those who throw more serious trash, such as plastic bags and food wrappers, are sent to court and may be sentenced to a CWO.

CWO exercises are held three or four times a year and require litterbugs to clock a number of hours to clean up public places. :In yesterday’s latest exercise, 155 litterbugs had been ordered to clean up the streets, but the downpour saw the event cancelled with many having to return another day.

Mr Mohd Hassim, 22, told Today the punishment was like community service. “It is my fault I am here, since this is the second time I was caught throwing my cigarette butt in town.”

Help for the enforcers?

Still, while offenders like him may now think twice before dropping their trash anywhere but the trash bins, some people think more is needed to curb the proliferation of litterbugs.

“Perhaps offences are up because people are unaware of the strict penalties. Also, it seems to me that no matter what you do, the number of offenders will always outnumber the NEA inspectors,” said Ms Trina Lim, a 29-year-old sales manager. “Perhaps another body, maybe town council officials, could help catch the litterbugs.”

In 2006, the NEA enhanced its enforcement efforts by dedicating 322 man-hours to catching litterbugs: 500 officers were empowered to take action against them, while another 50 were tasked to catch both litterbugs and those who flout the smoking ban.

Currently, the NEA says, some town councils have enacted their own by-laws to take action those who litter.

But Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar GRC Indranee Rajah believes that any suggestion for town council officials, for instance, to help enforce litter laws should be looked into “more carefully”.

“Town councils are basically a service agency,” she said. Hong Kah GRC MP Alvin Yeo agreed: “Grassroots leaders are members of public like you and me. They could help with counselling offenders, but it makes a lot of sense to leave the enforcing solely to the NEA.”

Rehabilitate and repay

It is ironic that a scheme perceived as a way to “shame” and deter litterbugs when it was launched in 1993, is today the potential model for sentences that would, instead, rehabilitate offenders without stigmatising them.

It was revealed last week that the Government is looking at communty-based options for minor offences. Under the proposed Criminal Procedure Code Bill, such sentences could be mandated in lieu of jail time, to cover a wider range of offences and types of community work to be performed by offenders, up to a cap of 40 hours.

Said Ms Indranee: “I would opt for work orders for non-serious offenders, like in minor vandalism cases, because it gives them a chance to give back to the community.”

Mr Aaron Wong is glad the courts are looking beyond the “blunt instrument” that is jail time. “I think it’s harsh to chuck people in jail if they’re caught stealing a handphone or for vandalism,” said the 26-year-old communications executive. “Working with the community could help set them straight.”

More ordered to pick up litter
About 1,000 litterbugs subject to Corrective Work Order this year
Kimberly Spykerman & Lim Wei Chean, Straits Times 15 Dec 08;

EIGHTY litterbugs took up brooms at four locations around Singapore yesterday and swept the streets as a penance for their anti-social behaviour.

The punishment was part of the 100th instalment of Corrective Work Order (CWO), which is meant to deter people from littering by making them pick up rubbish in public places.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, mayor of the North West district, said: 'It sends a strong message to everyone living in Singapore that littering is an anti-social act.'

Since it was implemented 15 years ago, more than 5,800 people have been made to pick up litter as punishment for their crime.

It is a weapon that has become increasingly popular in Singapore's long-running battle against litter.

This year, about 1,000 people have been subject to the order, a far cry from the roughly 120 in 2006, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Of the more than 30,000 people issued littering tickets since August this year, about one-third were foreigners.

The agency said stepped-up checks have helped catch more litterbugs, particularly those in 'hotspots' like popular food belts, shopping areas and bus interchanges.

The agency has tripled the number of man hours per day dedicated to doing this.

A CWO is usually imposed only on repeat offenders and those who dispose of items, such as food wrappers, drink cans and plastic cups, which can lead to infestations that compromise public health.

Under the scheme, offenders can be made to spend up to 12 hours picking up rubbish. Each session is capped at three hours.

The agency said CWOs are an effective way of curbing a perennial problem.

Numbers from the last five years show that less than 3 per cent of litterbugs forced to pick up rubbish were likely to repeat the offence.

Studies carried out by the NEA have shown that the majority of the offenders are likely to be men under 30 who are smokers. Ms Ellen Lee, MP of Sembawang GRC, suggested the younger set could be prone to such behaviour because 'they have maids at home to take care of many things including tidying and cleaning up after them'.

Deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (National Development and Environment) Lee Bee Wah, said that public education is the key to wiping out littering - not shaming offenders.

'I don't think the CWOs are very useful, she said. 'We should go (with the) softer approach of education.'

One repeat offender who wanted to be known only as Mr Wan, 22, received a three-hour CWO after he was caught stubbing out a cigarette on the street.

The 22-year-old said the penalty was not much of a deterrent, especially compared to a $200 fine he received for his first offence.

'I'll just do this and get it over and done with. It's not like the first time which really made me learn my lesson. I consciously kept a lookout for dustbins.'