The statutory presumption clause for high-rise littering is aimed at placing a greater onus on registered flat owners and tenants to prevent littering.
In cases where a unit has been proven to be the source of littering, the flat owner or tenant will be taken to court if he or she cannot prove within a given time period that they are not the offender.
There is a framework in place to deal with people from vulnerable groups such as the elderly, or mentally or physically disabled. Such offenders or their families can write to NEA with supporting documents. The agency will then review the circumstances of each case before taking any action, which could include issuing a warning.
No enforcement action will be taken against children under 12 years old. However, adults who seek to take advantage of this by pushing the blame onto their children may be further prosecuted if they are found to have lied to the authorities.
FEEDBACK, CAMERAS, ENFORCEMENT
When the clause was introduced in parliament last year, NEA provided figures showing a 77 per cent increase in feedback on high-rise littering – from an average of 16,800 instances annually from 2016 to 2018, to an average of 29,700 instances annually from 2019 to 2021.
From 2021 to 2023, NEA investigated about 29,000 instances of feedback annually, the agency on Saturday.
Over the same period, NEA deployed an average of 2,500 cameras annually.
The number of enforcement actions has fallen in recent years.
In 2023, about 700 enforcement actions were taken against high-rise littering, compared with about 1,100 in the previous year and 1,500 in 2021.
“Littering from residential flats is a serious offence as it poses a danger to the public, dirties the environment and threatens our public hygiene,” NEA said.
“In this Year of Public Hygiene, with a strong emphasis on the collective efforts needed by all stakeholders to uphold high standards of public hygiene, everyone is reminded that they have a critical role to play.”
