Public Cleanliness
Singapore has a well-deserved reputation as a clean and attractive city, in large part because of its litter-free streets and pavements. NEA plays an important role in this regard, as it oversees the cleansing of public areas in Singapore.
NEA takes a three-pronged approach to keeping our environment clean, which includes:
- Public Cleansing
- Public Education
- Enforcement
Public Cleansing
The cleansing of public roads and pavements is largely carried out by contractors engaged by the NEA. NEA officers conduct regular audits to ensure that the cleansing works are carried out satisfactorily and according to schedule.
NEA, together with our contractors have mechanised the cleansing of public roads to enhance the effectiveness of public cleansing operations. This includes the use of mechanical road sweepers and ride-on mechanical pavement sweepers.
The 3 contractors appointed by NEA to carry out cleansing in public areas are M/s Purechem Veolia Environmental Services Pte Ltd, M/s 800 Super Waste Management Pte Ltd and M/s SembCorp Environmental Management Pte Ltd. The boundaries of their contracts are as shown in the map below.
|
District |
Contract Period |
Cleansing Contractor |
Hotline |
|
South West |
1 Dec 2009 to 30 Nov 2015 |
Purechem Veolia Environmental Services Pte Ltd |
1800-8981920 |
|
North West |
1 Apr 2008 to 31 Mar 2013 |
|
Central |
1 Apr 2008 to 31 Mar 2013 |
|
Expressways |
1 Sep 2009 to 31 Aug 2014 |
|
North East |
1 Sep 2009 to 31 Aug 2014 |
800 Super Waste Management Pte Ltd |
63663800 |
|
South East |
1 Dec 2009 to 30 Nov 2015 |
SembCorp Environmental Management Pte Ltd |
1800-2786135 |
In addition, NEA also directly carries out cleansing operations in certain private estates and public areas throughout Singapore. For a list of these areas, click here.
Public Education
The NEA works closely with our 3P Partners (the people, public and private sectors) to rally members of the community to take ownership of their litter and keep their surroundings clean. The key message behind our education efforts is that the public should not rely on cleaners to clean up after them. Rather, they should take personal responsibility to hold on to their litter until they find a bin to dispose of it. One of the main programmes is the “Singapore, Litter-Free” campaign.
Enforcement
Strict enforcement to deter litterbugs and to complement public education is a key strategy that NEA adopts to sustain public cleanliness.
A first time offender who throws a cigarette butt onto the ground or other small items, such as carpark coupon tab, sweet wrapper, bus ticket, cigarette box wrapper and matchstick, may have the offence compounded for $300.
Recalcitrant offenders or those who commit serious littering offences such as throwing a drink can, bottle or other large items in a public place are required to appear in Court, and may be served with a Corrective Work Order (CWO) requiring them to clean up public places.
The CWO was introduced in November 1992 to reform littering offenders. As the offender carries out the CWO such as by picking or sweeping up litter, it is hoped that the offenders will reflect on the hardship that cleaners have to endure to clean up the mess created by them, and how litter can mar our living environment. Of course, the CWO does carry an element of shame and hopefully this will serve to deter others from littering.