Government to seek public's views on review of Sustainable Singapore Blueprint

Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 27 Oct 13;

SINGAPORE: The review of the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint will involve a public consultation exercise over the next three to six months.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said this on the sidelines of an Emergency Preparedness Exercise that involved some 500 residents in his constituency of Cashew.

Dr Balakrishnan said that as part of the review, the public would be asked for their feedback on how to enhance the penalty regime for littering and other anti-social behaviours.

The government has been pushing for ownership among individuals where environmental issues are concerned. This year, it kicked off its Community Volunteer Scheme -- where volunteers are trained to book and report litterbugs to the National Environment Agency for investigation.

Dr Balakrishnan said his ministry is also looking at amending legislation to establish the volunteer corps of environment protection officers.

Citizens in the volunteer corps will be trained and could even be issued the same warrant cards as regular NEA officers. This means they will have the powers to book and issue offenders with summonses on the spot.

This measure, as well as enhancing penalties for litterbugs, will be among the issues that will be included as part of the consultation exercise.

Dr Balakrishnan said: "The penalty regime will be part of that consultation exercise. Quite honestly, yes, we can enhance the penalties, but I don't think that is the key. We need to educate, we need to bring people on board and we need to get people to take charge of the situation.

"That to me is more important than revising penalties, although we will of course have to do that. However, it will be a public consultation exercise, and we will do so in a consultative way."

Dr Balakrishnan added the next eight years will be important for the hawker centre building programme, with the government's commitment to build at least 10 new hawker centres, and renovate and refurbish 15 centres that were under the Stall Ownership Scheme.

He said: "We thought of using this period of time to engage in public consultation, to ask the public: 'what is your vision, what do you want, what do you expect of Singapore going forward?'

"For instance, whether its hawker centres, or any other facilities, how do we ensure that it is truly green at the conceptual level and actually operates efficiently and meets peoples' needs."

The environment blueprint will lay out Singapore's strategies for economic growth in a way that is environmentally sustainable.

- CNA/ac

Volunteer corps with power to fine litterbugs being considered
Jermyn Chow Straits Times 28 Oct 13;

ORDINARY Singaporeans may be given the power to issue a fine to anyone they catch dropping rubbish, under a plan to get the community more involved in the nation's fight against littering.

The Government is looking at creating an anti-litter volunteer corps from as early as next year.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said his department could enlist and train members of the public and give them the same warrant cards as enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency.

This means they would have the power to issue fines to offenders on the spot.

The present Community Volunteer Programme involves 100 people from civic groups such as the Singapore Environment Council and Cat Welfare Society who have the power only to ask offenders to pick up and bin their rubbish.

If they refuse, volunteers can only take down their particulars.

The current composition fine for littering is up to $300. Recalcitrants can be fined up to $1,000 for the first conviction and up to $5,000 for repeat convictions. They can also be ordered to pick up litter in public for up to 12 hours.

Dr Balakrishnan said the proposal aims to remind everyone to take ownership of the environment. "The real objective of raising a call for volunteers is this sense of empowerment and sense of stakeholding. It's not just about having more people to issue more tickets. That's an almost trivial exercise."

The proposed volunteer corps will be "in terms of hundreds or more", he added at a community event yesterday.

The ministry will spend the next three to six months canvassing public feedback on the proposal.

Incidents of high-rise littering - when residents of tall buildings throw their trash to the ground - have been on the rise. Last year, the authorities received 8,152 complaints, up from 5,232 in 2011.

The move is also part of a review of the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, which outlines strategies to achieve economic growth and a good living environment.

Last Saturday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the review will look at imposing stiffer penalties for litterbugs.

Dr Balakrishnan said stepping up enforcement and fines will "increase the probability" of catching those who behave in an anti-social way.

The review will also examine carbon emission reduction targets and the building of more environmentally-friendly hawker centres. The Government is planning to build at least 10 new hawker centres and renovate 15 existing ones.

Yesterday, Dr Balakrishnan said this will "give us a chance to uplift the environmental ambience" and improve the dining experience.