The next time you can’t be bothered to find a trash can for your rubbish, perhaps you’ll think twice about littering, seeing as how offenders now have to don hot pink-and-yellow litterbug vests to clean the streets. Even if you’re not ridiculed by the fashion police, the shame of wearing that gaudy contraption in public should be deterrence enough. At least, that’s what the National Environmental Agency (NEA) hopes.
In revamping the design of the Corrective Work Order (CWO) vest, the government authority hopes to “raise the visibility of the CWO to increase deterrence effect.” Formerly an already-neon yellow, the new design wants to be more recognizable, although you’d be forgiven for thinking the individuals wearing them are working for some sort of Grab-foodpanda merged company.
This comes on the heels of an approximate 22 percent increase in the number of tickets issued for littering offences in 2018, up from 2017. In a press release yesterday, the NEA said 39,000 tickets were doled out last year, 7,000 more than the previous year. The number of CWOs also rose by 30 percent, from 2,000 cases in 2017 to 2,600 in 2018.
If you’ve never been written up for a littering offence, the fine includes a composition sum of $300 for the first offence, with recalcitrant offenders required to clean up public areas for three to 12 hours. Under the Environmental Public Health Act, the maximum fine for littering is $2,000 for the first court conviction, $4,000 for a repeat conviction, and $10,000 for subsequent ones.
According to the NEA, “littering hotspots” are typically found at neighborhood centres, as well as areas around hawker centres, MRT stations, and shopping malls. Most offenders are males aged 18 to 35. Besides uniformed and non-uniformed NEA officers positioned at potential littering corners to nab offenders, the authority also uses cameras and video analytics in its enforcement operations.
NEA has trained more than 410 volunteers to educate offenders on social responsibility as well. Under the Community Volunteer Programme, these individuals have engaged over 9,900 people for environmental offences, which includes littering.
“Everyone has a part to play in upholding high standards of cleanliness and public health in Singapore,” NEA said.
Meanwhile, in the social sphere, netizens couldn’t help but poke fun at the flashy new vests.
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