<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Levy $10 deposit to deter trolley thefts
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->YESTERDAY'S report, 'Supermarts' bugbear: trolley thieves', refers to a problem that has existed for a long time.
It reflects a deterioration in values in our society. People have become lazy, ill-mannered and dishonest. Otherwise, how else can you explain people taking something that does not belong to them, with no intention of returning it to the rightful owner or abandoning it.
Will education help? I doubt it.
Educational programmes over the years have not improved the problem of littering, road rage or bad behaviour on the trains. And I do not think security officers can improve matters much either. Surely they are unable to tell whether a customer is going to walk away with the trolley just by looking at him?
If we do not put a stop to this habit of dishonesty, our children and grandchildren will grow up thinking it is a harmless joke and carry on with it.
I believe the problem can be solved by increasing the deposit amount for these trolleys to $10. Supermarkets should install a machine that dispenses a unique token - different for each supermarket - that will release the trolley. The $10 can be recovered when the trolley is returned to its station.
The $10 deposit should persuade more people to return their trolleys than a costly education programme, bothersome in-store announcements and additional security officers. Murali Sharma
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->YESTERDAY'S report, 'Supermarts' bugbear: trolley thieves', refers to a problem that has existed for a long time.
It reflects a deterioration in values in our society. People have become lazy, ill-mannered and dishonest. Otherwise, how else can you explain people taking something that does not belong to them, with no intention of returning it to the rightful owner or abandoning it.
Will education help? I doubt it.
Educational programmes over the years have not improved the problem of littering, road rage or bad behaviour on the trains. And I do not think security officers can improve matters much either. Surely they are unable to tell whether a customer is going to walk away with the trolley just by looking at him?
If we do not put a stop to this habit of dishonesty, our children and grandchildren will grow up thinking it is a harmless joke and carry on with it.
I believe the problem can be solved by increasing the deposit amount for these trolleys to $10. Supermarkets should install a machine that dispenses a unique token - different for each supermarket - that will release the trolley. The $10 can be recovered when the trolley is returned to its station.
The $10 deposit should persuade more people to return their trolleys than a costly education programme, bothersome in-store announcements and additional security officers. Murali Sharma
