Surveillance cameras will be set up at 100 locations in the next three months to catch culprits who throw items from high-rise housing blocks.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said it is first targeting at the housing estates in Bukit Panjang, Pasir Ris, West Coast, Hong Kah and Sembawang.
These housing estates have more serious littering issues, involving faeces, urine or food waste, and have also registered a high number of feedback cases from residents.
NEA said those caught littering on camera will be charged in court and have their cases publicised.
NEA said the surveillance cameras, together with video analytic software, have proven effective in trials conducted to nab high-rise litterbugs.
The equipment can pick up items as small as cigarette butts being thrown from windows, even in low light conditions at night.
NEA cited an earlier pilot run in Bukit Batok where two offenders were caught on camera throwing cigarette butts out from their windows at night. They were charged in court and fined $800 and $1,000.
Under the law, such offenders are liable to be fined a maximum of S$1,000 and/or be given a Corrective Work Order (CWO) not exceeding 12 hours.
For new cases of high-rise littering, NEA said the cameras will be deployed after careful assessment of the situation and at least two rounds of educational efforts by the town councils and NEA to exert community pressure on the litterbugs.
Addressing the concerns of privacy, NEA said cameras will only survey the areas near to the window of the unit to capture any act of littering.
Residents of the affected blocks will be kept informed before the deployment of the cameras so that they will be aware. In addition, only authorised personnel will be allowed to view and analyse the video footage.
