WE THANK Mr Kelvin Kwan Chee Hong for the concerns expressed in his letter, "Empower volunteers to catch litterbugs" (my paper, Oct 8).

The National Environment Agency (NEA) takes a serious view of all littering offences, and has a system in place to monitor and take appropriate action against offenders.

First-time littering offenders can be fined up to $200, while repeat offenders and those who discard larger items like tissue paper, cigarette boxes or drink cans improperly will be sent to court, where we seek Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) - a punitive measure which is still in place - against the offenders.

With intensified enforcement action against litterbugs, the number of people caught littering has grown from 7,027 in 2006 to 21,269 last year - a three-fold increase.

Among these offenders, 655 were charged in court and sentenced to serve CWOs to clean up public places such as HDB estates, parks, town centres and pedestrian malls. The NEA will continue to sustain such enforcement efforts.

Besides enforcement, we also recognise the importance of public education.

Recent surveys conducted by the NEA have shown that while most people dispose of their litter in refuse bins, there is, regrettably, still a minority who perceives the act of littering as acceptable.

It is therefore important that we continue with education programmes to instill in our people a greater sense of environmental ownership.

To this end, NEA will continue to work with the community and relevant agencies to roll out anti-littering campaigns and outreach programmes in a bid to encourage members of the public to play their part in keeping Singapore clean.

We will also continue to work with the Ministry of Education to promote environmental messages through the school curriculum.

Mr S. Satish Appoo
Director, Environmental Health Department
National Environment Agency

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