Other Measures to Prevent Littering and Amending Law to Impose Corrective Work Order on First-time Offenders
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns measures to prevent littering and the potential imposition of Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) on first-time offenders, as raised by Mr Lim Biow Chuan. Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien highlighted a multi-pronged strategy involving data-driven enforcement at hotspots, increased officer visibility, and community-led initiatives like SG Clean Days. To shape social norms, the Ministry leverages partnerships with stakeholders and the Community Volunteer programme to foster collective action and social responsibility in public spaces. Regarding penalties, the Minister stated that financial fines remain effective for most, while CWOs are reserved for recalcitrant offenders given the stable 10% repeat offender rate. The Ministry will not extend CWOs to first-time offenders currently to allow them a second chance to learn, though the penalty regime will be reviewed periodically.
Transcript
87 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what other measures can be taken to prevent littering; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider amending the law to impose a corrective work order on first-time offenders for littering.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: To prevent littering and uphold high standards of public cleanliness, my Ministry adopts a multi-pronged approach, including enforcing against litterbugs, encouraging ground-up action and establishing values and norms.
We have been focusing on making enforcement more efficient and effective. Since 2019, NEA has been leveraging data analytics to better identify hotspots and prioritise deployment of enforcement officers. Enforcement officers, clad in operational vests, have been deployed to more places to increase visibility and enhance deterrence. NEA has also worked with stakeholders to display posters and banners prominently at hotspots to highlight the penalties and discourage littering.
To shape positive social norms, NEA works with stakeholders, such as residents, community leaders, Town Councils, schools and other organisations, to foster collective action and social responsibility in keeping our public spaces clean. For example, more than 360 individuals have come on board NEA's Community Volunteer (CV) programme and augmented our ground presence and efforts against littering. To date, the CVs have engaged over 8,000 littering offenders. In another example, the Public Hygiene Council (PHC) has partnered Town Councils to hold quarterly SG Clean Days to emphasise the part that residents play in keeping their surroundings clean.
Financial penalties for littering remain an effective deterrent for the majority of offenders. For recalcitrant offenders, we continue to impose the Corrective Work Order (CWO). The proportion of repeat offenders has remained steady at about 10%. We, therefore, do not see a need to extend CWOs to first-time offenders at this time as we would also like to give first-time offenders a second chance, so that they can learn from their mistakes. We will continue to monitor the situation and review the penalty regime for littering from time to time. We will also persevere with our efforts to engage the community to take greater ownership and keep the environment clean.