SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) will be increasing the penalties for littering. From April 1, first-time offenders will be fined S$300 for minor littering - up from the existing fine of S$200.
Minor littering is classified as irresponsibly discarding items
like cigarette butts, match-sticks, parking coupon tabs or even sweet
wrappers.
Repeat offenders will be slapped with a fine and corrective work order or CWO.
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob
Ibrahim, stressed that this is necessary to ensure continued deterrence
as statistics have shown the problem to be on the rise.
Speaking in Parliament, he said: "NEA has already committed
additional resources to clean up littering hotspot areas such as Little
India, Chinatown and Geylang. This cannot continue indefinitely.
"We must tackle the source of the problem - littering. NEA has
stepped up enforcement against littering and the number of offenders
caught increased from about 4,000 in 2005 to 33,000 in 2008. The
increase clearly shows that littering remains a concern in Singapore
and we should work hard to tackle this problem."
Dr Yaacob noted that NEA is aware of their enforcement limitations,
but the agency will continue to focus its efforts at littering hotspots
to achieve maximum effectiveness.
Similarly, NEA will continue to review the need to increase other punitive measures against littering.
- 938LIVE