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http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100712-226469.html
Mon, Jul 12, 2010
my paper
Photos of high-rise litterbugs to be posted to shame them
BY ANNABELLE LIANG
LITTERBUGS who throw rubbish out of their flats will have their photographs plastered on bulletin boards at their estate's Housing Board blocks for a month, and in their town council's newsletter, which is published every two months.
This is one of the initiatives under the Say "No" to High-Rise Littering campaign, which was launched in Admiralty yesterday by Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary for National Development and an adviser to Admiralty's grassroots organisations.
The programme, started by Sembawang Town Council, Admiralty's grassroots organisations and the National Environment Agency's (NEA) North West Regional Office, aims to reduce high-rise littering in the estates under the town council.
The programme will be rolled out to the town council's seven other divisions by the end of the year.
It is part of NEA's national anti-littering campaign and North West Community Development Council's 10-year Eco Plan: Green Living@North West, which aims to encourage the community to assume greater environmental ownership.
Subsequently, NEA will extend it nationwide.
Under the programme, an Anti High-rise Littering Neighbourhood Watch was also started yesterday.
About 350 grassroots leaders, town-council members and NEA officers will visit homes in blocks where high-rise littering has been reported.
They will give residents brochures about the problem, and encourage residents to give information on litterbugs to enable NEA to watch out for these culprits.
In the first six months of this year, NEA has already received 1,965 complaints from the public of high-rise littering nationwide - more than half of the 3,474 complaints in the whole of last year.
A collective effort involving the community and "shaming" litterbugs would better help to reduce the problem of high-rise littering, said Mr Soon Min Sin, the town council's general manager.
Dr Maliki said that residents who give information on high-rise littering will deter litterbugs and keep their environment clean.
They can also help keep conservancy charges down, as high-rise littering contributes to higher conservancy costs, he noted.
Under a three-year contract with a cleaning company that started last year, the general cleaning cost for 1,250 HDB blocks under Sembawang Town Council is $9 million per year.
This is about 12 per cent higher than the amount paid under a previous contract, partly because of high-rise littering.
The town council said that it has not raised conservancy charges as it can still cope with the costs, but may have to do so if costs continue to rise.
Mr Ganesan Muruganandam, 43, a director of a solartechnology firm who lives in Admiralty, said that public shaming would succeed in deterring high-rise litterbugs.
He said: "Although it may initially seem harsh, firm action is necessary to reduce the number of complaints and to prevent offenders from re-offending."
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For more my paper stories click here.
Mon, Jul 12, 2010
my paper
Photos of high-rise litterbugs to be posted to shame them
BY ANNABELLE LIANG
LITTERBUGS who throw rubbish out of their flats will have their photographs plastered on bulletin boards at their estate's Housing Board blocks for a month, and in their town council's newsletter, which is published every two months.
This is one of the initiatives under the Say "No" to High-Rise Littering campaign, which was launched in Admiralty yesterday by Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary for National Development and an adviser to Admiralty's grassroots organisations.
The programme, started by Sembawang Town Council, Admiralty's grassroots organisations and the National Environment Agency's (NEA) North West Regional Office, aims to reduce high-rise littering in the estates under the town council.
The programme will be rolled out to the town council's seven other divisions by the end of the year.
It is part of NEA's national anti-littering campaign and North West Community Development Council's 10-year Eco Plan: Green Living@North West, which aims to encourage the community to assume greater environmental ownership.
Subsequently, NEA will extend it nationwide.
Under the programme, an Anti High-rise Littering Neighbourhood Watch was also started yesterday.
About 350 grassroots leaders, town-council members and NEA officers will visit homes in blocks where high-rise littering has been reported.
They will give residents brochures about the problem, and encourage residents to give information on litterbugs to enable NEA to watch out for these culprits.
In the first six months of this year, NEA has already received 1,965 complaints from the public of high-rise littering nationwide - more than half of the 3,474 complaints in the whole of last year.
A collective effort involving the community and "shaming" litterbugs would better help to reduce the problem of high-rise littering, said Mr Soon Min Sin, the town council's general manager.
Dr Maliki said that residents who give information on high-rise littering will deter litterbugs and keep their environment clean.
They can also help keep conservancy charges down, as high-rise littering contributes to higher conservancy costs, he noted.
Under a three-year contract with a cleaning company that started last year, the general cleaning cost for 1,250 HDB blocks under Sembawang Town Council is $9 million per year.
This is about 12 per cent higher than the amount paid under a previous contract, partly because of high-rise littering.
The town council said that it has not raised conservancy charges as it can still cope with the costs, but may have to do so if costs continue to rise.
Mr Ganesan Muruganandam, 43, a director of a solartechnology firm who lives in Admiralty, said that public shaming would succeed in deterring high-rise litterbugs.
He said: "Although it may initially seem harsh, firm action is necessary to reduce the number of complaints and to prevent offenders from re-offending."
[email protected]
For more my paper stories click here.
