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  The Straits Times 3 Sep 06
Beaches here cleaned daily
Reply from NEA and MPA

WE REFER to the letters, 'Beach marred by garbage' (The Sunday Times, July 30) and 'Data on waste useful' (The Sunday Times, Aug 6).

The National Environment Agency (NEA) maintains the recreational beaches, such as East Coast Park, on a daily basis. Beaches in other areas, like the stretch near the golf courses mentioned by letter writer Kun Xiaoyi, are cleaned regularly though not on a daily basis.

During the south-west monsoon season between April and October, the tides wash a larger volume of flotsam onto our southern coast, which sometimes includes large logs. During this period, NEA's contractor will deploy more workers and machines to clean up the beaches.

Besides cleaning, NEA also under- takes enforcement action against any litterbugs on the beach and 45 people have been fined since January this year.

On the seaward side, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) safeguards Singapore's marine environment by preventing pollution from ships. Under the MPA's regulations, ships that call at our port are not allowed to dump oil, sewage or garbage in our waters. Those caught doing so are punishable under the law.

The MPA provides a daily garbage-collection service, through a private operator, for ships in our port. The operator deploys four garbage-collection craft to collect garbage from about 8,000 ships in the port each month. It also deploys seven flotsam retrieval craft to collect flotsam from our port waters. The MPA's port inspectors patrol our waters daily to ensure compliance with our regulations.

Data from last year's International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) indicates that 67 per cent of Singapore's debris are from places such as beaches, streets, parking lots and storm drains. These originate from litter generated by land-based activities, including public events such as picnics, festivals and sports.

The NEA will continue to work with the organisers of ICC and relevant agencies to keep Singapore beaches clean, and with event organisers to keep public events litter-free.

Besides enforcement, we will also work with the community to get every individual's commitment for this endeavour.

S. Satish Appoo
Head, Environmental Health Department
National Environment Agency

Simon Ang
Manager, Corporate Communications
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
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