Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on High Rise Littering in Fernvale Constituency by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment
Written Reply by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, to Parliamentary Question on High Rise Littering in Fernvale Constituency
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) in the past two years in Fernvale constituency, how many residents have been caught for (i) high-rise littering (ii) throwing down cigarette butts and (iii) throwing food down to feed birds; (b) what are the age groups of those who are caught for such offences; and (c) whether NEA can increase the deployment of cameras to resolve the issues.
Answer:
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From 2019 to 2020 at Fernvale constituency, the National Environment Agency (NEA) took enforcement action against nine offenders for 22 counts of high-rise littering offences. Of these cases, cigarette butts accounted for 95% of the high-rise litter and tissue paper accounted for the rest. The majority of the offenders were aged between 40 and 55 years.
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NEA will continue to deploy surveillance cameras with video analytics to catch offenders in the act of high-rise littering. However, increasing the deployment of cameras indefinitely is not sustainable, given resource constraints.
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Keeping Singapore clean and safe is a collective responsibility. NEA adopts complementary strategies such as strengthening community partnerships to raise residents’ awareness of the negative impacts of high-rise littering. NEA also partners Town Councils to put up posters which highlight the environmental and social consequences of high-rise littering. Going forward, we must continue to cultivate social graciousness and good habits to keep Singapore clean and safe.