SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) will tighten enforcement against business owners and managers over rat-related lapses from Apr 1 to reduce the risk of infestations.
This follows a spike in rat-related lapses in 2024, with more than 1,000 enforcement actions taken against businesses such as shopping malls and food establishments.
The figure is almost double the 670 enforcement actions taken in 2023.
“Nearly half of the enforcements last year were for poor refuse management,” NEA said on Friday (Feb 14).
The stepped-up enforcement will cover lapses in three key areas: Poor refuse management and housekeeping practices that create conditions favourable for the propagation of rats, defects in refuse handling facilities that can potentially serve as entry points for rats, and the presence of rat nests.
“This aims to reinforce the importance of premises managers implementing proper rat prevention and control measures proactively, which improves overall cleanliness standards and reduces the risk of rat infestations,” NEA said in a media release.
The agency added that relying on enforcement alone would not be enough to mitigate rat infestations in the longer term, adding that it will continue to adopt a “multi-pronged approach” to address the situation through active surveillance and stakeholder engagement.
