NEA awards two new public cleaning contracts worth $300m

SINGAPORE - Singapore has been working to raise the efficiency of its cleaning and waste management, said Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Ms Grace Fu, as she announced new measures to increase cleaning-industry safety and the award of new public-cleaning contracts.

Ms Fu was speaking at the opening plenary session of the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore at Marina Bay Sands on Tuesday morning.

A $143 million, seven-year contract to clean public areas in the North-East was awarded to Chye Thiam Maintenance, while an eight-year, South-East one for $158 million was awarded to Ramky Cleantech Services.

In 2012, the National Environment Agency took over the management of all public cleaning from the various public agencies that oversaw the cleaning of vacant land, parks, and URA car parks, for instance.

"We found there was a lot of duplication," Ms Fu said, such as trucks running the same routes. Now, there are seven contracts that cover all public cleaning in Singapore.

Ms Fu also announced a new accreditation programme for the workshops that inspect general waste collection vehicles for safety, to better protect some 12,000 workers in the industry.

The agency on Monday also signed an agreement with the International Solid Waste Association and the Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore to develop and conduct training for the industry; a waste-to-energy seminar will be held from Thursday to Saturday under the new agreement.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.