Shaffiq Alkhatib Channel NewsAsia 27 Nov 10;
SINGAPORE : The National Environment Agency (NEA) said that as of November 15, about 22,077 people have been caught littering in Singapore.
This is about half the total number of people caught committing the offence for the whole of last year.
There were about 3,000 people aged 16 to 21 caught for littering between January and November 15 this year, compared to more than 5,000 young offenders during the same period last year.
To further reduce the number of litterbugs, NEA launched a new initiative targeting the young in the South West District on Saturday.
The "Litter-Free Dream for a Big Clean South West" programme is co-organised by the area's Community Development Council (CDC).
It aims to attract at least 25 schools and 1,000 students.
To date, 18 schools and more than 3,000 students have already signed up for the initiative.
They come from schools including ITE College West, Bukit View Secondary and Clementi Primary.
The programme will engage the students in outreach activities such as litter-picking from March to August next year.
They will also don walking billboards to help promote a cleaner environment.
The initiative may be rolled out to the other districts in the future.
- CNA /ls
