Stiffer penalties and more visible punishments for litterbugs

Jeremy Koh Channel NewsAsia 6 Jun 10;

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

Tougher now for litterbugs to escape
Acting on poll, NEA increases patrols and adds more bins
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 7 Jun 10;

YEARS of effort against littering have not stamped out the problem, so the authorities embarked on a survey to find out why, and to help them formulate intensive new measures.

Based on the poll of 4,500 people, there will now be more uniformed officers prowling the streets for litterbugs, more bins with ashtrays and heightened public shaming of inveterate offenders.

Most respondents to the year-long sociological study by the National Environment Agency (NEA) suggested the greatest deterrent to littering would be if they knew they were being watched by uniformed officers, said sociologist and Nominated Member of Parliament Paulin Straughan, who led the study.

Almost half said there were not enough bins in public places, and one in three agreed that corrective work orders (CWOs) in places with higher traffic would be unpleasant and embarrassing.

The most significant changes to anti-littering laws in a decade come as the befouling of Singapore's streets and waterways has grown worse in recent years, exacerbated by an influx of foreign residents bringing with them different social norms.

Since 2005, the number of littering offenders caught has increased 10-fold to 41,400 last year. Some 2,537 CWOs were issued last year.

The study exposed worrying trends in people's attitudes to littering, noted Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim.

It found that though one in four people recognised it was an anti-social act, they would still litter if, for instance, there was no bin nearby, or out of laziness or habit.

This suggests it is not enough just to raise awareness about littering, but that the message must be twinned with stronger enforcement and better facilities, said the minister.

'I do not think a single measure approach will work as there are genuine problems on the ground,' Dr Yaacob told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of this year's anti-littering campaign yesterday.

So the 101 uniformed officers who roam the streets will now make the rounds twice weekly, up from once at present.

From today, repeat offenders will also no longer serve out a CWO in the anonymity of a sleepy housing estate, but amid a bustling shopping mall, town centre or bus stop where they will be seen by many.

Smokers, long lamenting a lack of ashtrays, will get more of those in public spaces such as malls, bus stops and town centres. Busy areas will also get larger bins.

Some $12 million will be invested over the next few years to bring these plans to fruition.

The study sought to understand why a normal, well-educated person could be driven to commit an anti-social act, said Associate Professor Straughan.

'If we do not understand the socio-environmental factors, that is, what motivates people not to bin, we will just be broadcasting messages blindly and hoping that somewhere, we have hit the right spot,' she said.

To deter littering, fines were introduced in the early 70s, and CWOs in 1992.

The NEA will work with town councils, and the PUB and National Parks Board, which look after waterways and parks respectively, to align their penalties for litterbugs as well as make sure bins are placed in the right areas.

First-time offenders caught for minor litter can be fined $300, while repeat offenders can be fined up to $5,000 while also serving a CWO.

NEA has not ruled out raising these penalties in future.

Teacher Joseph Yin, 35, suggested that the authorities could make better use of new media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to reach out to youth, of whom nearly a quarter surveyed in the study said nothing would stop them from littering.

Mums and wives influence litterbugs
Straits Times 7 Jun 10;

WHETHER a person litters is influenced to a large extent by whether a close family member or friend either approves of littering or commits the act themselves, the National Environment Agency's (NEA) sociological study showed.

The study found, for example, that a person was 2.4 times more likely to litter if they had a relative who was also a litterbug.

Mothers and wives were found to bear the greatest influence on what their children and husbands did.

Among the youth, a problem group where as many as seven in 10 out of 1,500 interviewed admitted to littering, around 45 per cent said their mothers were a strong influence in shaping their attitudes towards littering. For men, the same proportion listed their wives.

Among the general public, 33 per cent said mothers were the strongest influence on their children's likelihood to litter.

The findings showed the importance of social support networks and the role of women as 'important facilitators' in shaping the values and actions of their families, said Associate Professor Paulin Straughan, who led the year-long study.

The NEA is working with organisations such as the People's Association's women's executive council to organise anti-littering campaigns, while it also aims to get more women to sign up to its own litter-free ambassadors programme.

While mothers and wives were seen to play a significant role, male figures such as fathers and husbands could also influence such values among children, said NUS sociology professor Narayanan Ganapathy, who was also involved in the study.

Prof Straughan added: 'By and large, Singaporeans are aware of the importance of keeping the country clean and are also aware of the public efforts in place to ensure we continue to live in a clean and green city.' She noted that almost 95 per cent of the people surveyed said they knew it was wrong to do so.

The key to going forward is to achieve a 'new social norm', like that seen in other cities such as Tokyo, where individuals are willing to hold on to their litter when a bin is not easily accessible, she added.

AMRESH GUNASINGHAM

Littering: A fine mess
Stiffer penalties, more enforcement to curb unsightly problem
Ong Dai Lin Today Online 7 Jun 10;

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.