Reward people
who catch litterbugs in action, MP Lee Bee Wah proposes
SINGAPORE: While the rest of the neighbourhood in Nee Soon South
is sleeping, about 120 volunteers were out early on Sunday morning
(Oct 11). Armed with litter pickers and gloves, they sorted the
garbage into bags for rubbish and recyclables.
Headed by Nee Soon South MP Lee Bee Wah, the ward is the first
in Singapore to do this on a monthly basis.
The programme – called HABIT @ Nee Soon South (Hold on And Bin
IT, make it a HABIT!) – started about three years ago, and
organisers said they have seen a gradual decrease in the amount of
litter collected. Meanwhile, the number of residents volunteering
has also increased.
National Environment Agency (NEA) said it wants to replicate the
monthly scheme in other parts of Singapore. It said representatives
from Jurong and Queenstown have expressed an interest, and have
attended Nee Soon's monthly litter picking programme to learn
more.
However, Ms Lee said picking up litter is not enough. She is
encouraging her residents to look out for those who litter
habitually.
She also suggested to the authorities to reward people who catch
litterbugs in action. For example, after a resident takes a video
of someone littering, he submits the evidence to NEA, and he gets
to earn half of the summons.
She said: "In Taiwan, every resident is an enforcement officer.
They can video, they can take photo of the litterbug and submit to
their NEA. And if there is successful prosecution, their NEA will
give the resident who reported it half of the summons
collected.
“My residents have given this suggestion and I thought it is a
good one. So now I'm working with NEA, and we will try to pilot
this in Nee Soon South in the near future."
Channel NewsAsia understands there are challenges in its
implementation, as the legislation needs to be amended.
Said NEA chairman Liak Teng Lit: "I think the Government needs
to think through what are the things we need to do. If you look at
the equivalent of what is happening on the road, many people today
have their in-vehicle cameras and not many people dare to make
funny claims about accidents because there is a risk that whatever
you say could be contradicting what's on the camera in someone
else's vehicles.
“So certainly having neighbours watching over the environment
and watching over each other will be very helpful. For the good
citizens, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, people will be
filming you doing good things and praising you rather than
reprimanding you.”
Ms Lee also launched a second recycling point in her ward, after
a successful pilot. The scheme is being supported by the Tzu Chi
Foundation.
Residents take their recyclables to the void deck at Block 873,
Yishun Street 81. These items will be sorted, and taken to
recycling centres.
She said this will educate residents on what can and cannot be
recycled. This could prevent uninformed residents from
contaminating recycling bins with waste.
- CNA/xk
