Heavier penalties for litterbugs

Jermyn Chow, Straits Times 10 Feb 09;

LITTERBUGS will have to pay heavier fines in a move by the Government to curb the problem.

From April 1, first-time offenders will pay $300 - or $100 more - for failing to dispose of small items such as cigarette butts, car parking coupon tabs and sweet wrappers in litter bins.

Those who do it again will also face harsher penalties. Besides having to pick up rubbish in public under a Corrective Work Order (CWO), they could also face fines of up to $5,000.

The harsher penalties, revised for the first time in 10 years, are part of the National Environment Agency's (NEA) drive to maintain public cleanliness in Singapore, including at hawker centres and in public toilets.

The littering problem in Singapore has worsened. A record 33,164 litterbugs were caught last year, eight times the 3,800-plus nabbed in 2005. Many were young men.

About 94 per cent of litterbugs are smokers who drop their cigarette butts. About 80 per cent were men, with more than half under 30 years old.

Acknowledging that Singapore has yet to overcome this anti-social behaviour, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said penalties 'must act as effective deterrents'.

He was responding to calls by Mr Charles Chong (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) and Mr Ong Kian Min (Tampines GRC) to step up efforts to combat the littering scourge.

Dr Yaacob said the NEA would review the need to beef up punitive measures to arrest the problem.

Besides the new fines, enforcement officers will continue to target littering hot spots, such as shopping belts, bus stops and parks in areas like Geylang, Little India and Chinatown.

Beyond the punishments, Dr Yaacob urged people to do their part to keep Singapore clean.

The NEA will launch a new national cleanliness campaign in the middle of this year, via the grassroots, schools and businesses to promote the habit of keeping places clean.

Mr Howard Shaw, executive director of the Singapore Environment Council, said the move to raise penalties was 'unfortunate, but necessary'.

'Public shaming via the CWO has not stopped more people from littering, so we have to hit them where it hurts most - their pockets.'

Mr Shaw added that a public campaign was essential to change people's attitudes and behaviour.

NEA will also continue to improve hawker centres and public toilets.

To date, 71 food centres have been upgraded. Eight are now getting a facelift, with 32 more in the pipeline.

Dr Yaacob said this would ensure hawker centres continued to provide a clean, hygienic and pleasant dining environment.

In his reply to a call from Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) to look into hawker hygiene, he said 86 per cent of 5,000 or so cooked food stalls here received a B grading last year, up from just 46 per cent in 2002. Those who flout hygiene rules receive demerit points, while repeat offenders can have their licences suspended or revoked.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Environment and Water Resources) Amy Khor also outlined how NEA will continue to police public hygiene and cleanliness with a strict licensing regime for food outlets and supporting a nationwide drive to have clean public toilets.

She said NEA would continue its partnership with The Straits Times and the Singapore Kindness Movement in the Goodness Gracious Me! project to get customers to return their trays after meals. She said the four-month-old campaign would be rolled out to more hawker centres later this year.

Biting where it hurts
Penalty up by $100 for first-time offenders as number of litterbugs snowballs
Esther Ng, Today Online 10 Feb 09;

BE PREPARED to pay more if you are caught littering. From April 1, the fine for first-time offenders will increase from$200 to $300. The hike comes amid rising complaints about the careless discarding of rubbish and the surge in the number of litterbugs caught — about 33,000 last year, up from some 4,000 in 2005.

Members of Parliament (MPs) attributed this to more enforcement efforts and the increasing number of foreigners working, studying and living here.

But Singaporeans were just as guilty of littering. Nominated MP Edwin Khew used the National Environment Agency (NEA) Littering Behaviour Study yesterday to highlight that 13.6 per cent of Singaporeans think that littering is socially acceptable, while 8.6 per cent said it would not lead to hygiene problems.

Tampines and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MPs Ong Kian Min and Charles Chong wanted to know what else was being done apart from hiring more cleaners, enforcement officers and public education.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim told Parliament that the NEA had put in additional resources to clean up littering hotpots such as Chinatown, Geylang and Little India, but he acknowledged that “this cannot continue indefinitely”. “We must tackle the source of the problem,” he said.

The NEA will continue to adopt a “multi-pronged approach to sustaining public cleanliness” which comprises public engagement, penalties and enforcement.

As such, the composition fine for first-time minor offenders will be raised by $100. The fine for littering was last revised 10 years ago. Minor litter is defined as items that do not give rise to serious public health issues. These include parking coupon tabs, sweet wrappers, cigarette butts and matchsticks,

The penalty for a repeat offender will now include a fine in addition to the Corrective Work Order imposed by the courts.

Stiffer penalties for litterbugs
Channel NewsAsia 9 Feb 09;

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) will be increasing the penalties for littering. From April 1, first-time offenders will be fined S$300 for minor littering - up from the existing fine of S$200.

Minor littering is classified as irresponsibly discarding items like cigarette butts, match-sticks, parking coupon tabs or even sweet wrappers.

Repeat offenders will be slapped with a fine and corrective work order or CWO.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, stressed that this is necessary to ensure continued deterrence as statistics have shown the problem to be on the rise.

Speaking in Parliament, he said: "NEA has already committed additional resources to clean up littering hotspot areas such as Little India, Chinatown and Geylang. This cannot continue indefinitely.

"We must tackle the source of the problem - littering. NEA has stepped up enforcement against littering and the number of offenders caught increased from about 4,000 in 2005 to 33,000 in 2008. The increase clearly shows that littering remains a concern in Singapore and we should work hard to tackle this problem."

Dr Yaacob noted that NEA is aware of their enforcement limitations, but the agency will continue to focus its efforts at littering hotspots to achieve maximum effectiveness.

Similarly, NEA will continue to review the need to increase other punitive measures against littering.

- 938LIVE.