LITTERING OFFENCES AMONGST MIGRANT WORKERS

LITTERING OFFENCES AMONGST MIGRANT WORKERS

7.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) how many littering offences in the past one year are committed by migrant workers; (b) what is being done to educate migrant workers on Singapore's anti-littering laws; and (c) what is the Ministry's assessment on the effectiveness of its anti-littering campaign so far.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: There were 11,378 tickets(2) issued to foreigners for littering in 2009. This constituted about 29% of all the tickets issued for littering offences caught in the year.

NEA leverages multiple platforms to educate migrant workers against littering and committing other socially unacceptable behaviour such as spitting. These include:

(i) Exhibition and quizzes in road shows held in dormitories. Some 170 roadshows were organised since 2008;

(ii) Training courses conducted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF);

(iii) Posters and banners publicising the penalties for littering, displayed in dormitories, construction sites and areas where migrant workers frequently congregate. Since 2008, some 1,000 banners and 60,000 posters have been put up island-wide; and

(iv) Customised activities at district level, such as organised litter-picking by migrant workers. Examples include the "Keep North West Environment Clean & Hygienic" and "My Dormitory Shines! @ South West 2010".

The national anti-littering campaign, launched in June this year, aims to tackle littering through three broad thrusts:

(i) Increase visibility of enforcement. This involves deploying uniformed officers to areas where migrant workers frequently congregate, to deter littering;

Column: 1609

(ii) Deploy more litter bins. More bins are now sited in areas where migrant workers frequently congregate as well as in areas with high human traffic in housing estates; and

(iii) Sustain community outreach programmes. This builds on existing partnerships with the Community Development Councils and Grassroots Organisations to introduce more outreach programmes, such as Litter Free Ambassador and the Cleanliness Ambassador.

There are early indications that the campaign has been effective:

(i) A 37.5% decline in the number of tickets issued for littering offences, from 32 per enforcement man-hour between January and May this year to 20 between June and October; and

(ii) A 35% drop in the litter count recorded at 20 littering hotspots, from an average of 17 pieces of litter per five square metres of space to 11.

We will build on progress made in arresting the littering problem by working more closely with the community to engender greater ownership for the cleanliness of our environment.

(2) Notice To Attend Court.

Column: 1609