Average Duration Between Identification of Mosquito Breeding Site and Issuance of Fine

8 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the average duration between the time a mosquito breeding site is found and a fine is issued; (b) whether there have been instances where fines were found to have been issued to the wrong households upon appeal; and (c) if so, how many of such cases were there in the past three years.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (Mr Baey Yam Keng) (for the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment): For the last three years, the National Environment Agency (NEA) took, on average, about five months to issue a fine after detection of the breeding site. More time is needed for cases that require further investigation and verification of the individual to be held accountable and issued with a fine. Surges in the number of cases over the past few years, especially years with large dengue outbreaks, have led to longer processing times. My Ministry is currently reviewing the enforcement process with a view to reducing the time taken to issue a fine.

From 2020 to date, NEA has issued fines to about 22,400 households for mosquito breeding offences. Of these, there were four instances, or 0.02% of the total, where fines were issued to the wrong household due to administrative errors. These cases were rectified immediately when they were made known to NEA through feedback or appeals. NEA will continue to monitor and improve its processes to avoid such errors.

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, I would like to ask two supplementary questions, please. The reason why I am asking this Parliamentary Question (PQ) and these consequent supplementary questions is because I have been getting a number of residents complaining about letters coming in close to six months later, or a bit lengthier in some sense. One resident told me that it is their first offence as well and they would not get fined again, but then found out eventually, six months later, that they got a fine in the letter box. My Toa Payoh residents found this a bit worrying – six months after the fact. And also, the fines are substantial and can be quite significant for some of the low-income residents in my constituency.

The first supplementary question, Mr Speaker is: can the letters be sent earlier? I think the Senior Parliamentary Secretary has highlighted that the Ministry is trying to work to reduce the timeframe. If the Ministry can hasten that a bit, it will be very useful. It can help in some ways, especially when the offence is initiated earlier.

Can the Senior Parliamentary Secretary give some details on how first offenders are treated in such cases, especially the first offenders, because they are not familiar with this?

Second, can there be instances where the letters can be handed over physically? The Senior Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that there were four cases where wrong addresses were given to those who were fined. I think these are instances where the owner of the breeding sites is on the ground floor of a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block, for example, where the locations of the breeding sites could not be ascertained clearly. I think there were some instances of that and whether we can avoid that, by handing over the letters physically in such cases and to check the ownership of the breeding sites. I hope the Senior Parliamentary Secretary can share a bit on that.

Mr Baey Yam Keng: NEA's key priority is to make sure that dengue transmission is stopped. So, resources are devoted to detect and destroy breeding habitats. The follow-through will be issuance of fines. In fact, residents should be "happier", if they receive the fines later, so they have more time to respond to that.

But nevertheless, during dengue outbreak periods, there will be a lot more inspections and potentially more breeding grounds detected and, therefore, more fines and more administrative work to be done. But we are committed to improving the processes so that residents do not have to wait too long to receive the fine.

The current practice is that when a breeding habitat is detected, a notification slip is given to the household. If the owner is not at home, the slip will be left at the household. The slip will inform them that enforcement may be taken if the sample is verified to contain a vector. This slip will be issued when there are larvae found within the premises. With this slip, it is very clear, in black and white, that there has been detection. There is no practice where first-time offenders will not be fined. There is no such practice. NEA will remind its officers not to give this wrong impression that first timers will be let off more easily because dengue can cause fatality and we need everyone to play their part to keep mosquitoes at bay and to remove any potential breeding grounds.

Mr Saktiandi's second question is on the wrong address. So, if the owner is at home, the slip will be given. But sometimes, there could be challenges or arguments as in, let us say, a pot along the common corridor. It may not necessarily belong to the unit closest to it. That is where the resident who receives the notice can appeal and NEA will investigate and ascertain who is the rightful owner and the rightful party to be responsible for upkeeping the area. NEA will review all appeals properly on a case-by-case basis, depending on the situation and to exercise leniency where it is necessary.

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: Mr Speaker, I just want to seek clarification from the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. The reason why I asked is because, for first offenders, they get it six months later, thinking that they were not supposed to be fined. So, I think the long duration exacerbated the concerns of the resident.

So, my clarification is with regard to the notification slip. Can the Senior Parliamentary Secretary share if the notification slip will be placed into the letter box or under the HDB flat unit's door? So, in what ways will the notifications be delivered? I am wondering whether there would be instances where the notification slips would be sent to the wrong addresses or may have actually flown away or disappeared if it is hung on the door.

Mr Baey Yam Keng: I need to confirm this, but I am quite sure it is not in the letter box, because NEA would not have access to the letter boxes. So, in cases where the household is not occupied at the point in time, I believe it is placed under the door.

There could be cases where a household member returns home, may not understand what the slip is about and ignores it or throws it away. That is possible. Hence, the rightful party may not know that inspection was conducted and some breeding was found.

But the slip will provide a contact number for the household to call, to ask for more details, verification or provide information that will help NEA in its investigations or to refute that the item where the breeding was found does not belong to them. So, there is a channel for members of the public to get in touch with NEA to assist in its investigations.