SINGAPORE : The number of warning letters issued on killer litter has been going down over the past two years.
In 2006, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and town councils sent out about 129,000 such letters. However, last year, the number dropped by almost 30 percent to about 94,000.
Even with fewer warnings, the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council has launched a new initiative to increase safety awareness among residents.
The Mayor for the North West District, Dr Teo Ho Pin, on Monday kick-started the new three-month programme in the Holland-Bukit Panjang district.
The group from the Bukit Panjang Town Council and HDB branch office are reaching out to 56,000 households, one by one. Their message is to encourage residents to be more proactive in keeping their area free from killer litter.
Dr Teo explained, "This 'Safe Town' project is to encourage ownership among our residents, to make our living environment safer. So rest assured, the town councils or HDB will not go around, door-to-door, to issue summons to residents."
Such summonses are issued as a last resort. Officials said that residents usually get a verbal warning first, and then a written reminder.
If the new 'Safe Town' programme proves to be effective in Holland-Bukit Panjang, it will then be used by other town councils in Singapore.
The most recent death which resulted from killer litter was in 2000, when five-year-old Cheryl Goh died after a flower pot dropped from a block of flats at Kent Road hit her head.
Source:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...342740/1/.html
