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Dec 15, 2008
Ordered to pick up litter
About 1,000 litterbugs subject to Corrective Work Order this year
By Kimberly Spykerman & Lim Wei Chean
EIGHTY litterbugs took up brooms at four locations around Singapore yesterday and swept the streets as a penance for their anti-social behaviour.

The punishment was part of the 100th instalment of Corrective Work Order (CWO), which is meant to deter people from littering by making them pick up rubbish in public places.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, mayor of the North West district, said: 'It sends a strong message to everyone living in Singapore that littering is an anti-social act.'

Since it was implemented 15 years ago, more than 5,800 people have been made to pick up litter as punishment for their crime.

It is a weapon that has become increasingly popular in Singapore's long-running battle against litter.

This year, about 1,000 people have been subject to the order, a far cry from the roughly 120 in 2006, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Of the more than 30,000 people issued littering tickets since August this year, about one-third were foreigners.

The agency said stepped-up checks have helped catch more litterbugs, particularly those in 'hotspots' like popular food belts, shopping areas and bus interchanges.

The agency has tripled the number of man hours per day dedicated to doing this.

A CWO is usually imposed only on repeat offenders and those who dispose of items, such as food wrappers, drink cans and plastic cups, which can lead to infestations that compromise public health.

Under the scheme, offenders can be made to spend up to 12 hours picking up rubbish. Each session is capped at three hours.

The agency said CWOs are an effective way of curbing a perennial problem.

Numbers from the last five years show that less than 3 per cent of litterbugs forced to pick up rubbish were likely to repeat the offence.

Studies carried out by the NEA have shown that the majority of the offenders are likely to be men under 30 who are smokers. Ms Ellen Lee, MP of Sembawang GRC, suggested the younger set could be prone to such behaviour because 'they have maids at home to take care of many things including tidying and cleaning up after them'.

Deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (National Development and Environment) Lee Bee Wah, said that public education is the key to wiping out littering - not shaming offenders.

'I don't think the CWOs are very useful, she said. 'We should go (with the) softer approach of education.'

One repeat offender who wanted to be known only as Mr Wan, 22, received a three-hour CWO after he was caught stubbing out a cigarette on the street.

The 22-year-old said the penalty was not much of a deterrent, especially compared to a $200 fine he received for his first offence.

'I'll just do this and get it over and done with. It's not like the first time which really made me learn my lesson. I consciously kept a lookout for dustbins.'

kimspyke@sph.com.sg

weichean@sph.com.sg

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