Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Camera Deployments for High-Rise Littering by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Written Reply by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, to Parliamentary Question on Camera Deployments for High-rise Littering

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the Ministry will consider reviewing and allowing flexibility on the internal protocols for requests of camera deployments on a case-by-case basis to address high-rise littering in a timely manner.

Answer:

1 In managing high-rise littering cases, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will first seek to work with the Town Council and community leaders to influence behaviour and cultivate good habits through education before considering surveillance and enforcement. Upon receiving feedback, NEA and the relevant Town Council will issue advisories to residents in the affected stack of flats. Town Councils also display posters jointly produced with the Municipal Services Office at HDB blocks, highlighting the environmental and social impact of high-rise littering.

2 If the high-rise littering persists, NEA will deploy surveillance cameras with priority given to blocks with persistent feedback and where the suspect units have been sufficiently narrowed down.

3 My Ministry will continue to monitor the high-rise littering situation and improve work processes for efficient and swift deployment of surveillance cameras to catch offenders in the act of high-rise littering.