SINGAPORE: Is Singapore a clean city or a cleaned
city?
Minister for Environment and Water Resources, Dr
Vivian Balakrishnan posed this question to
Singaporeans.
Speaking at the National Environment Agency's (NEA)
10th anniversary exhibition, Dr Balakrishnan said public
cleanliness remains a persistent issue here, despite the many
campaigns, heavy fines, stepped-up enforcement and employment of an
army of cleaners.
While progress has been made over the years, he urged Singaporeans
to initiate a ground-up movement to keep the country
litter-free.
The government is hoping to establish a new social norm through the
launch of an invigorated "Keep Singapore Clean Movement": cleaning
up after oneself instead of relying on others.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said Singapore needs to reclaim community
ownership and community action to keep the country clean.
"You'll notice that this year, the leadership of the campaign is
actually the people sector, so it's with the Public Hygiene
Council," he said.
"We're working with many of the NGOs (non-governmental
organisations) to run the education programmes, to run the
activities on the ground."
"A key reason of course, is the wrong attitude that cleaners are
there to pick up after us, and the misplaced notion that this is
appropriate behaviour because cleaners are paid to do so," he
continued.
"One alarming statistic from NEA's recent surveys is that 36 per
cent of Singaporeans would only bin their litter if it is
convenient to do so. The solution, my friends, cannot be to employ
more and more cleaners."
The Public Hygiene Council and the Singapore Council have come to
together to take the lead in changing the mindset of the
community.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan also suggested that it is perhaps timely for
the public to discuss how to keep Singapore clean, as part of the
responses to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's call to Singaporeans
to discuss the nation's future.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan floated the idea of allowing community
partners like NGOs to issue littering summonses.
"Should enforcement be confined to uniformed officers of the NEA,
or in fact, (the) community partners out there who've demonstrated
commitment over many, many years, going around tirelessly, at
nights, weekends, picking up litter, trying to spread the message?"
he asked.
"Some of these community partners are people whom I think we can
rely on and that's why I've asked NEA to study whether we can
confer enforcement authority to these members of the public."
He added this move would mean there will be many more eyes and
hands available to deter littering.
However, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan admitted that it could bring
controversy, so NEA will work on the plan one step at a time.
In response to the minister's suggestion, Chairman of Waterways
Watch Society, Eugene Heng welcomed the idea.
While he said the idea gives recognition to committed and
passionate members of the public, Mr Heng pointed out that this "is
a step into uncharted waters".
"There are 250 volunteers in Waterways Watch Society but not
everyone should be given the enforcement authority," said Mr Heng.
"I think only the core group of 20 to 30 volunteers should do
so."
Mr Heng said it is also important for those given the authority to
be trained in engaging with the public so as not to create a
whiplash.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan also said NEA has worked with mobile
applications developer BuUuk to develop a new app named "Clean
Lah".
The app's function is to crowd-source for feedback on
cleanliness.
"Wherever you are, if you spot a cleaning problem, you can take a
picture of it and submit it with an accompanying message via the
app, and it will go to NEA for follow-up," he explained.
"As the feedback is geo-tagged, NEA will know if others have
already reported from the same location and this would also help to
signal the urgency or magnitude of the problem," he
continued.
"Those who have submitted feedback will even be able to get a
status update on the issue once it is resolved."
- CNA/xq