She was responding to questions from various Members of Parliament including Mr Tan Wu Meng (PAP-Jurong) and Ms Foo Mee Har (PAP-West Coast) about how the ministry is leveraging on the latest technologies as well as the enforcement measures in place.
Responding to a supplementary question from Ms Yeo Wan Ling (PAP- Pasir Ris Punggol), Ms Khor said that the current assessment is that there are some “challenges” when it comes to the use of drones.
This includes battery life of the drones but also safety risks due to the high-rise environment and also privacy concerns.
“The important point to note really is that the use of surveillance cameras and other technologies really just to augment all the efforts we have put in to tackle high-rise littering, and it is a multi-pronged and holistic approach,” she said in response to a supplementary question from Mr Tan.
“I don’t think we can just depend on technology to do this. We need to work together with the community, and we need a more sustainable way – it is really to change behaviour and cultivate more gracious behaviour and collective responsibility in tackling high-rise littering issues and keeping Singapore clean and safe.”
“SIGNIFICANT” DROP IN FEEDBACK
Dr Kho noted that there has been a “significant” drop in the average amount of high-rise littering feedback in 2022 and 2023 (about 27,100) as compared to 2020 and 2021 (about 33,500).
“When there is such feedback at a block of HDB flats, NEA (National Environment Agency) will work with the town council to first issue advisories to residents in the block,” she said.
“Should the high-rise littering issue persist, NEA will investigate to determine the likely offending unit and deploy surveillance cameras with video analytics to capture acts of high-rise littering and support enforcement efforts.”
Between 2021 and 2023, NEA deployed cameras in about 97.1 per cent of 7,400 persistent high-rise littering cases.
The rest were assessed to be unsuitable due to the design and layout of the blocks and the lack of appropriate vantage points, she added.
