By Leong Wai Kit | Posted:
17 November 2012 1253 hrs
SINGAPORE: Tougher measures are being rolled out to
curb littering in Singapore. From March 2013, fines for first-time
litter offenders will go up from S$300 to S$500.
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian
Balakrishnan revealed this on Saturday at a community event in
Bukit Panjang.
At the event, the National Environment Agency (NEA) jointly
launched a campaign with the North West Community Development
Council to encourage the community to inculcate good anti-littering
habits.
The campaign is called "Hold on And Bin IT, Make it A H.A.B.IT!",
and it is being rolled out to support the Keep Singapore Clean
Movement.
The year-long campaign will see about 750 volunteers undergoing the
"Litter-Free Ambassadors" programme, where they will be trained to
communicate with, and engage the community on the importance of
keeping the environment clean and binning their waste
properly.
Monthly themed activities will also be held in the North West
District to instil a greater sense of environmental
ownership.
As part of measures to curb littering, fines for first-time
offenders will be increased. The penalties will go up further once
amendments to the Environment and Public Health Act are debated in
Parliament next year.
Dr Balakrishnan said: "It's not so much the quantum. This is a
symbol of society's repudiation of a very bad habit by a very small
minority. Money cannot buy cleanliness.
"This is a matter of public safety and public health, so we are
treating this as a symbol of commitment to making sure Singapore
remains clean and green."
He said the government is also studying the possibility of
launching a whistleblowing system, where feedback and complaints by
members of the public can be used to prosecute offenders.
Dr Balakrishnan added: "The other thing which we are examining -
and it's still in the early stages - is that, we receive a lot of
feedback, through email, through social media, as well as digital
photos which are sent in to us, saying, 'I know this person, and
look what this person has done'.
"We are examining the legal implications of whether or not and how
we can pursue investigations whenever we receive feedback like
that. And if we can identify the culprit, and if the complainant is
willing to testify in court, whether we can then use this as a
basis to proceed for prosecution."
Plans are also under way to make the Corrective Work Order (CWO)
even more visible. This includes having recalcitrant litterbugs
perform CWO in areas such as town centres instead of parks.
Derek Ho Yeong Thye, director-general of the Environmental Public
Health Division at the NEA, said: "I think if we place all these
CWO exercises in places which is more visible to the public, then I
think they will feel more eyes looking on them as they conduct the
exercises, and I think they will feel the public pressure on them,
that this is not an acceptable behaviour."
-CNA/ac
