Public Cleanliness and Littering

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what are the measures that the Ministry will take to instil civic mindedness among Singaporeans to maintain public cleanliness and to eradicate littering in public places, including high-rise littering in public housing estates; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider learning from Japan on ways to achieve a high level of public cleanliness without any dustbins at public places.

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Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether any study has been done to monitor if there is a change in the littering trend; (b) what is the Ministry's plan to address the littering problem beyond just imposing fines; (c) how the Ministry proposes to deal with the high-rise littering problem; (d) whether the Ministry is sufficiently staffed to deal with the problem; and (e) what are lessons drawn from other countries with similar problems.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Cleanliness is important to Singapore and to Singaporeans. A clean and hygienic environment enables us to lead healthy, comfortable and secure lives. We want our surroundings to be litter-free and well-kept; we all want to live in clean neighbourhoods that we can proudly call home.

The Ministry is committed to sustaining and improving the level of public cleanliness in Singapore. Since 2006, more enforcement officers have been deployed daily. In 2010, we reviewed the frequency of public cleaning and the availability of waste bins at litter hotspots. In September 2011, we set up the Public Hygiene Council (PHC) to galvanise efforts by the community and industry to improve cleanliness and hygiene in Singapore.

The persistence of high-rise littering in housing estates remains an ongoing challenge. Our laws against high-rise littering require the witnessing of the offence before prosecution can take place. Hence, apprehending high-rise littering offenders is manpower-intensive and involves long hours of staking out to catch the offender in the act. My Ministry is currently exploring some technology solutions. Despite the best efforts of our enforcement officers, it is not always possible to catch the offenders as most of the offences are committed at night, which makes it more difficult to clearly identify the offender. Therefore, encouraging greater community ownership and civic responsibility remains the dominant approach in curbing the irresponsible and dangerous behaviour of high-rise littering. On this front, NEA has appointed Litter-Free Ambassadors to educate the public through house-to-house visits.

As for general public cleanliness, we have been carrying out litter-count surveys to track our progress. The findings show some improvement in selected hot spots. However, we agree that more can be done. We have taken reference from countries, such as Australia and the UK, to inform our public cleanliness initiatives. We will continue to learn from countries like Japan, where strong social norms and habits on cleanliness and community responsibility have developed, and adapt and tailor strategies that will work best for us.

This year, we will be launching a renewed Keep Singapore Clean Campaign. In a recent NEA study, almost 40% of respondents have indicated that they would litter out of convenience rather than make a conscientious effort to bin their rubbish. Therefore, while the government will continue to ensure a comprehensive and effective cleansing regime, we must also focus our efforts on developing stronger community norms of social responsibility amongst all residents of Singapore.

The Keep Singapore Clean campaign will focus on four areas: education, engagement, enforcement and improved infrastructure. We will be working closely with the schools, grassroots organisations and other stakeholders in the community to reinforce the value of taking personal ownership and responsibility for the cleanliness of our surroundings. We will step up our educational outreach to foreign workers on the desired standards expected in Singapore. We will do more to engage Singaporeans to develop new ideas and solutions, and ingrain a stronger sense of shared social responsibility and civic-mindedness in our people. Our penalty regime of fines and corrective works has been found to be effective, and a more visible enforcement presence on the ground will be considered for littering hotspots as a deterrent. We are also reviewing our cleansing infrastructure with the view to improving bin design and timeliness of cleansing schedules.

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My Ministry will invest the necessary resources to achieve a high level of public cleanliness. However, the effort to keep Singapore clean and beautiful cannot be undertaken by the Government alone, but through the collective and concerted effort of the community to make our country and home liveable and sustainable.