SINGAPORE: At a busy walkway outside Causeway Point mall in Woodlands, pedestrians and delivery riders zip past a closed-circuit camera television (CCTV) camera that was installed to catch litterbugs.
A sign below warned of the consequences of littering, noting the number of offenders caught at the location.
Nearby, a team of enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) are on the lookout for people who leave their trash behind.
This was the scene during an enforcement operation on Friday evening (May 3) as authorities look to improve standards of public cleanliness and hygiene.
Causeway Point was among the littering hotspots targeted in an enforcement blitz across Singapore. Over the weekend, a total of 125 people were caught for public health offences, said NEA.
Most of the offences were for littering and smoking in prohibited areas.
A mobile CCTV camera deployed by the National Environment Agency outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands and a sign recording the number of people fined for littering there. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Expect more enforcement operations as Singapore cracks down on littering this year in what has been termed the Year of Public Hygiene.
It was previously announced that NEA will increase the number of CCTV deployments by four times, from around 250 to 1,000 a year. It will also conduct more, larger scale and higher visibility enforcement operations at "cleanliness hotspots", from 21 last year to more than 100 this year.
Corrective Work Orders, where recalcitrant offenders are required to clean public areas for at least three hours, will be conducted at hotspots. About 1,600 Corrective Work Orders were issued between 2021 and 2023.
In an unprecedented move, Singapore may also publicise images of offenders in community spaces so that members of the public can help identify them.
The number of tickets issued for ground littering fell from more than 20,000 in 2022 to around 18,600 in 2023, according to NEA. Around 14,000 tickets were issued in 2021.
Although efforts to educate people against littering have generally paid off, Senior Parliament Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng said earlier this year that authorities continue to observe "some persistent issues that require us to go beyond just public education".
When CNA followed NEA on the enforcement operation outside Causeway Point on Friday, a group of eight officers wore white collared T-shirts, a green lanyard and green armbands stating they were NEA enforcement officers.
The group was meant to be large and visible to deter acts of littering, NEA officers told CNA.
In pairs, officers were seen speaking to an offender who was smoking in a prohibited area.
Offenders would have to turn over their identification cards for officers to record their details before issuing tickets to them.
National Environment Agency officers on their rounds to catch litterbugs outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands on May 3, 2024 (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
National Environment Agency officers speak to a woman caught for smoking in a prohibited area outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands on May 3, 2024 during an enforcement blitz against litterbugs. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
At one area near a pedestrian walkway, officers did not catch anyone in the act of littering – partly because the earlier rain had dissuaded people from gathering in the area.
But there are signs of how the area came to be dubbed a "cleanliness hotspot" by the authorities.
Cigarette butts and plastic wrappers were spotted between the folds of leaves in flower hedges. There were satay sticks stuck beneath plants, and an empty drink can lay on the ledge beside a walkway.
These were the most common kinds of trash that officers encounter, NEA deputy director Mulyadi Ahmad told CNA on the sidelines of the enforcement blitz.
A cigarette butt left in the leaves of a plant in a flower hedge outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Cigarette butts and a satay stick are among the litter found in a "cleanliness hotspot" outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands . (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
"One of the things that we've been seeing (is) a lot of the members of public would use open spaces to sit down and chit chat with their friends ... they will have their own meals," he said.
"We've been seeing that after they have their meals they will conveniently walk away. So this is one of the things that we probably would want to address, we want to be able to nudge so that people will be more socially responsible and bin their waste right after their business."
To tackle the issue, NEA has installed two mobile CCTVs around Causeway Point, including one at that particular hotspot.
The
Numbers will be updated monthly, NEA said. The authorities would also conduct corrective work orders in the location, to further warn potential offenders of the consequences of littering.
A mobile CCTV camera deployed by the National Environment Agency outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands and its live feed seen on a mobile phone screen. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
A close up on the live feed from a CCTV camera deployed to tackle the littering situation in a "cleanliness hotspot" outside Causeway Point in Woodlands. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Live footage from the National Environment Agency's CCTV camera deployed at a "cleanliness hotspot" outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands. (CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Asked what differentiated the area from other hotspots, Mr Mulyadi noted that the location was at a shopping mall and near a transport node.
"We generally have been looking at some of our data, the feedback on cleanliness issues has been slightly high. We also see through our enforcement officers, their monitoring, their ground-sensing and we also noted that the information that we have ... has been sustained for a period of time," he added.
"And therefore we classified this as a cleanliness hotspot and we wanted to go in (with) a bit more effort, a bit more targeted approach to this particular location. Hopefully, after our intervention, it will be a much cleaner area."
Mr Mulyadi said he hoped to see the situation improve in "a matter of months".
Asked about the challenges of enforcement, especially in terms of manpower given the expected increase in enforcement blitzes, Mr Mulyadi said that with an enhanced surveillance network, including more CCTV deployments, officers will be deployed more efficiently.
"We also plan throughout the year how we will be able to address and look at the resources we have (on) hand and to conduct (operations more efficiently)."
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A sign below warned of the consequences of littering, noting the number of offenders caught at the location.
Nearby, a team of enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) are on the lookout for people who leave their trash behind.
This was the scene during an enforcement operation on Friday evening (May 3) as authorities look to improve standards of public cleanliness and hygiene.
Causeway Point was among the littering hotspots targeted in an enforcement blitz across Singapore. Over the weekend, a total of 125 people were caught for public health offences, said NEA.
Most of the offences were for littering and smoking in prohibited areas.
A mobile CCTV camera deployed by the National Environment Agency outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands and a sign recording the number of people fined for littering there. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Expect more enforcement operations as Singapore cracks down on littering this year in what has been termed the Year of Public Hygiene.
It was previously announced that NEA will increase the number of CCTV deployments by four times, from around 250 to 1,000 a year. It will also conduct more, larger scale and higher visibility enforcement operations at "cleanliness hotspots", from 21 last year to more than 100 this year.
Corrective Work Orders, where recalcitrant offenders are required to clean public areas for at least three hours, will be conducted at hotspots. About 1,600 Corrective Work Orders were issued between 2021 and 2023.
In an unprecedented move, Singapore may also publicise images of offenders in community spaces so that members of the public can help identify them.
The number of tickets issued for ground littering fell from more than 20,000 in 2022 to around 18,600 in 2023, according to NEA. Around 14,000 tickets were issued in 2021.
Although efforts to educate people against littering have generally paid off, Senior Parliament Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng said earlier this year that authorities continue to observe "some persistent issues that require us to go beyond just public education".
Related:
When CNA followed NEA on the enforcement operation outside Causeway Point on Friday, a group of eight officers wore white collared T-shirts, a green lanyard and green armbands stating they were NEA enforcement officers.
The group was meant to be large and visible to deter acts of littering, NEA officers told CNA.
In pairs, officers were seen speaking to an offender who was smoking in a prohibited area.
Offenders would have to turn over their identification cards for officers to record their details before issuing tickets to them.
National Environment Agency officers on their rounds to catch litterbugs outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands on May 3, 2024 (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
National Environment Agency officers speak to a woman caught for smoking in a prohibited area outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands on May 3, 2024 during an enforcement blitz against litterbugs. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
At one area near a pedestrian walkway, officers did not catch anyone in the act of littering – partly because the earlier rain had dissuaded people from gathering in the area.
But there are signs of how the area came to be dubbed a "cleanliness hotspot" by the authorities.
Cigarette butts and plastic wrappers were spotted between the folds of leaves in flower hedges. There were satay sticks stuck beneath plants, and an empty drink can lay on the ledge beside a walkway.
These were the most common kinds of trash that officers encounter, NEA deputy director Mulyadi Ahmad told CNA on the sidelines of the enforcement blitz.
A cigarette butt left in the leaves of a plant in a flower hedge outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Cigarette butts and a satay stick are among the litter found in a "cleanliness hotspot" outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands . (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
"One of the things that we've been seeing (is) a lot of the members of public would use open spaces to sit down and chit chat with their friends ... they will have their own meals," he said.
"We've been seeing that after they have their meals they will conveniently walk away. So this is one of the things that we probably would want to address, we want to be able to nudge so that people will be more socially responsible and bin their waste right after their business."
To tackle the issue, NEA has installed two mobile CCTVs around Causeway Point, including one at that particular hotspot.
The
Numbers will be updated monthly, NEA said. The authorities would also conduct corrective work orders in the location, to further warn potential offenders of the consequences of littering.
A mobile CCTV camera deployed by the National Environment Agency outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands and its live feed seen on a mobile phone screen. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
A close up on the live feed from a CCTV camera deployed to tackle the littering situation in a "cleanliness hotspot" outside Causeway Point in Woodlands. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Live footage from the National Environment Agency's CCTV camera deployed at a "cleanliness hotspot" outside of Causeway Point in Woodlands. (CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
Asked what differentiated the area from other hotspots, Mr Mulyadi noted that the location was at a shopping mall and near a transport node.
"We generally have been looking at some of our data, the feedback on cleanliness issues has been slightly high. We also see through our enforcement officers, their monitoring, their ground-sensing and we also noted that the information that we have ... has been sustained for a period of time," he added.
"And therefore we classified this as a cleanliness hotspot and we wanted to go in (with) a bit more effort, a bit more targeted approach to this particular location. Hopefully, after our intervention, it will be a much cleaner area."
Mr Mulyadi said he hoped to see the situation improve in "a matter of months".
Asked about the challenges of enforcement, especially in terms of manpower given the expected increase in enforcement blitzes, Mr Mulyadi said that with an enhanced surveillance network, including more CCTV deployments, officers will be deployed more efficiently.
"We also plan throughout the year how we will be able to address and look at the resources we have (on) hand and to conduct (operations more efficiently)."
Continue reading...