Record number of litter-bugs nabbed in Singapore

Dec 31, 2007, 0:17 GMT

Singapore - Decades of anti-littering campaigns and stiffer fines have failed to curb the habit resulting in arrests reaching a record high this year, environmental officials said on Monday.

Between January and November, 19,252 people were caught, more than triple the 6,002 culprits booked in the same period of 2006.

Determined to retain the city-state's squeaky-clean image, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has hired a private company to beef up enforcement. Members of the anti-litter squad are clad in plain clothes so they are not detected.

The results of a month-long NEA study published in The Straits Times pinpointed bus terminals, hawker centres, neighbourhood gathering spots and coffee shops as the filthiest places.

The most common items picked up by cleaners include cigarette butts, tissue paper and candy wrappers, the study found.

The NEA spent 34 million Singapore dollars (24 million US dollars) this year just cleaning up roads and pavements.

'There are newer generations of Singaporeans, and there has been a lot of immigration into the country,' the newspaper quoted Howard Shaw, executive director of the Singapore Environment Council as saying.

He also mentioned more people hanging out in public malls, atriums and in the open.

Noting rubbish bins are plentiful, Shaw said people litter because it is convenient to do so.

Nearly one in five people queried by the newspaper said it was 'too inconvenient' to dispose of their litter properly, or that they were 'too lazy' to bother.