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High-rise litter complaints double in last 4 years to 32,000; 54% of offences involve cigarette butts: MSE

SINGAPORE — Complaints about high-rise littering have doubled in the past four years from an average of 16,000 complaints each year before 2019, to 32,000 cases in 2021. 

A poster advising against high-rise littering seen on the notice board of a housing estate.

A poster advising against high-rise littering seen on the notice board of a housing estate.

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  • The National Environment Agency (NEA) received 22,000, 35,000 and 32,000 complaints against high-rise littering in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively
  • However, NEA was unable to identify the offenders in about 15 per cent of high-rise litter cases investigated from 2019 to 2021 on average
  • Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu shared the data in response to parliamentary questions by two Members of Parliament on Thursday (Oct 20)
  • She added that NEA is exploring imposing the liability for high-rise litter on the owners or tenants of a unit where high-rise littering is proven to have been committed

SINGAPORE — Complaints about high-rise littering have doubled in the past four years from an average of 16,000 complaints each year before 2019, to 32,000 cases in 2021. 

The National Environment Agency (NEA) received 22,000, 35,000 and 32,000 complaints in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. The spike in cases in 2020 coincided with periods where people were largely confined to their homes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the agency has taken steps to address persistent cases of high-rise littering, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said that NEA was unable to identify the offenders in about 15 per cent of cases investigated from 2019 to 2021 on average.

These numbers were shared by Ms Fu in response to a parliamentary question by Member of Parliament (MP) for Sembawang Group Representation Constituency Mariam Jaafar about high-rise littering on Thursday (Oct 20).

In response to another question about high-rise cigarette butt littering by MP for Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Fu said that 54 per cent of high-rise littering offences enforced in the past four years involved cigarette butts.

About 95 per cent of these cigarette butt offences were caught by surveillance cameras deployed.

Between 2019 and 2021, enforcement actions were taken against an average of 400 high-rise cigarette butt littering offenders each year.

"From January to September 2022, enforcement actions were taken against close to 130 offenders," she added.

To address high-rise littering, NEA adopts various approaches such as enforcement, surveillance and public education, said Ms Fu in her response to Ms Mariam.

When NEA receives a complaint on high-rise littering, it will work with the relevant town councils to issue advisories to residents in the building stack with the suspected litterer, and gather relevant information on the suspected units.

“For persistent cases and where NEA has gathered sufficient leads, surveillance cameras with video analytics will be deployed at appropriate vantage points to monitor the suspected units in the relevant building stack and record acts of high-rise littering for investigation and enforcement.”

For persistent cases and where NEA has gathered sufficient leads, surveillance cameras with video analytics will be deployed at appropriate vantage points to monitor the suspected units ... for investigation and enforcement.
Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu

She added that NEA has enhanced its interventions to better tackle high-rise littering and resolve cases quickly, such as increasing the number of cameras deployed and streamlining its investigation process.

While she said that the average time taken to resolve cases was reduced by about 25 per cent from 2019 to 2021, the number of complaints still outpace NEA’s efforts to deter and detect high-rise litterers.

“Investigation into high-rise littering cases remains resource-intensive and time-consuming despite our best efforts,” she said.

“Depending on the complexity of the case, NEA generally takes 10 weeks to six months to enforce against an offender, from the time the high-rise littering act is successfully captured by surveillance cameras.

“Often, our surveillance cameras were unable to capture the incidence of high-rise littering. There are also many cases where despite our best efforts, the offender cannot be identified even if there is evidence of high-rise littering being committed from a particular flat.”

On this note, Ms Fu said alternative approaches to better address high-rise littering need to be considered. This includes having residents take stronger ownership in preventing such acts from their homes.

Ms Mariam had also asked Ms Fu for updates on Ms Mariam's suggestion made in April to introduce legislation to impose the liability for high-rise litter on the owners or tenants of a unit where high-rise littering is proven to have been committed.

“My ministry will consider how such a law can be applied with proper safeguards, consult relevant stakeholders including the public, and ensure that the law is applied judiciously,” said Ms Fu in response.

In response to Mr Liang's question about using DNA testing to identify high-rise cigarette butt littering culprits, Ms Fu said it is not being considered.

"Matching DNA evidence from the cigarette butt to a specific offender would require the collection of DNA information from selected residents in the implicated building stack or unit and raise significant privacy concerns," said Ms Fu.

"NEA will continue to study other approaches and technologies to address high-rise littering."

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MSE NEA Parliament high-rise littering litter

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