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  Today Online 18 Aug 06
A litter-free Singapore is a collective effort
Reply from NEA

Straits Times Forum 9 Aug 06
Revive anti-litter campaign to keep the environment clean
Letter from Ramchand Ramesh

The government agencies have done a tremendous job in sprucing up the city centre with numerous trees and plants in anticipation of the IMF and World Bank visitors.

Unfortunately when one peers into the lush foliage, it is not uncommon to see rubbish strewn by our residents - drink cans, plastic bags, cigarette butts, food wrappers, styrofoam boxes etc.

More education is needed to get our residents to do their bit. Let's get the message to everyone.

Many years ago it was not uncommon to have frequent tree-planting and clean the environment activities.

Let's revive them. We certainly should not expect our government to have to pick up after us.

Today Online 18 Aug 06
A litter-free Singapore is a collective effort
Letter from S SATISH APPOO Head, Environmental Health Department. National Environment Agency

We refer to the letter, "Pick up after yourself" (Aug 9). We share Mr Ramchand Ramesh's concerns and thank him for his suggestion.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) will continue to promote good hygiene and sanitation practices actively, with anti-littering programmes continuing all year-round.

One of our major programmes is the "litter-free" events initiative introduced in 2002. So far, this initiative has drawn the support of many public event organisers. During these litter-free events, event organisers are empowered to urge event participants to take ownership of their litter, while communicating the anti-littering message.

Members of the public have to dispose their litter in the refuse bins provided when they attend events such as an open-air concert in a park, or a picnic by the beach. They are reminded that they should hold on to their litter if they cannot find a litter bin, and not leave litter behind for others to clean up.

One recent example of a litter-free event is the National Day Parade. In June, NEA also extended the "Litter-Free" campaign to the hawker centres, which is among the many public facilities where we hope to improve on the level of cleanliness.

We will require the involvement and cooperation of every stakeholder such as patrons, hawkers and cleaners for this endeavour. NEA's latest plan is to extend the programme to cover other premises frequented by the public such as coffeeshops, parks and bus interchanges.

Besides public education and litter-free campaigns, NEA will continue with enforcement that is still necessary to deal with cases of non-compliance, or bad social behaviour.

Nonetheless, we need everyone to do their part to keep Singapore litter-free all year round.
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