2,800 reports of high-rise littering in 2015
SINGAPORE — The National Environment Agency (NEA) received about 2,800 reports of high-rise littering last year, about 300 more than the previous year, in spite of more surveillance cameras being installed to combat the scourge.
SINGAPORE — The National Environment Agency (NEA) received about 2,800 reports of high-rise littering last year, about 300 more than the previous year, in spite of more surveillance cameras being installed to combat the scourge.
Senior Minister of State (Environment and Water Resources) Amy Khor gave details of the high-rise littering situation in Parliament on Tuesday (March 1), saying two people were nabbed for throwing “killer litter” that resulted in injuries in 2015.
Dr Khor said the number of surveillance cameras deployed to combat high-rise littering has increased by more than four times over the last three years. Close to 3,000 cameras have been rolled out since 2012, with 1,000 of these being put up last year alone.
Last year, the NEA took more than 800 enforcement actions against high-rise litterbugs, 80 times more than in 2011 before surveillance cameras were introduced. Offenders who were brought to court were fined between S$70 and S$5,600.
Dr Khor said that footage from about one-third of the surveillance cameras lead to the identification of litterbugs.
“Very often when we put the camera, it may deter the litterbug from littering when he’s aware it’s trained on him or the unit. In some instances, it’s also because of the understanding of the ground — the camera may be focused on the wrong unit or floor, and we’ll have to redeploy it,” she said.
Dr Khor pointed out that outreach and education efforts to caution residents against high-rise littering, conducted by the ministry, town councils and grassroots organisations, usually improve the situation, but surveillance cameras serve as an additional deterrent to persistent litterbugs.
Increasingly deploying more cameras, however, is “not sustainable and not desirable” given resource restraints, she added.
“We agree that high-rise littering is an antisocial act and poses a threat to public health and safety. At the end of the day, all of us need to play a part to cultivate social graciousness,” said Dr Khor.