Volunteers empowered to catch litterbugs: Grace Fu

SINGAPORE — Trained volunteers will be empowered to take down litterbugs’ particulars, the Second Minister for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) said in Parliament today.

Ms Grace Fu also said that her ministry is ready to table a Bill to make the licensing of all cleaning companies mandatory next year.

RAISING STANDARDS, CATCHING LITTERBUGS

Ms Fu announced that the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) will make the licensing of all cleaning companies mandatory from next year, as part of its push to transform the industry by “improving its productivity and standards”.

“This will set the standards that all cleaning companies must meet before they can operate,” she said. “The key licensing requirements include mandatory training courses and a progressive wage model for the cleaners.”

Ms Fu also said that trained volunteers will soon be empowered to take down litterbugs’ particulars, revealing that the National Environment Agency (NEA) has just completed the training of the first batch of 28 volunteers from groups such as the Singapore Environment Council, the Waterways Watch Singapore and the Cat Welfare Society.

Ms Fu said that these volunteers will be empowered to act on the behalf of the NEA to “educate litterbugs to pick up their own litter and record the offenders’ particulars for enforcement when offenders refuse to do so”.

Other anti-littering initiatives include a reboot of the Keep Singapore Clean Movement, launched by the Public Hygiene Council together with the Singapore Kindness Movement.

Ms Fu said that the NEA is to increase anti-littering enforcement hours by 50 per cent, from 24,000 to 35,000 man-hours per month. Fines for recalcitrant litterbugs might be increased from S$1,000 to S$2,000 the first conviction in court, and up to S$10,000 for third and subsequent convictions.

SECOND-HAND SMOKE, FOOD STANDARDS

Addressing concerns over second-hand smoke, Ms Fu said that over 3,000 advisories have been handed out to smokers since the smoking ban was extended on Jan 15 to include sheltered linkways and walkways, overhead pedestrian bridges and a 5m-radius around public bus shelters.

“Our officers and ambassadors are going around the new smoking prohibited areas to educate smokers about the new rules. This is to give smokers time to understand and adjust to the new law,” Ms Fu said.

Revealing that the highest food poisoning rate among all types of food outlets were caterers, Ms Fu said that the NEA is requiring caterers to adhere to a new Food Safety Management System (FSMS). All new applicants for catering licences will be required to submit a FSMS plan within the first three months of the issuance of their licence, starting June 1, 2014.