Remember those primary school days when your teacher tried their hardest to control the class to no avail, and then threatened to stop teaching to the pupils’ immediate silent repentance?
Yeah, that’s what’s gonna happen to public housing estates.
Public Housing Estates Won’t Be Swept for 1 Day Every Month to Show How Much Litter is Generated With No Cleaning
This is part of the “SG Clean Day” initiative, which is championed by the Public Hygiene Council (PHC). And despite its name, the initiative involves not deploying cleaners to open areas and public housing estates from 6:00am to midnight on designated days, according to Mothership.
According to the PHC, the initiative is intended to demonstrate “how much litter there is and what it will be like if there was no one to sweep it all away”.
How paggro. And how very true.
The initiative has already begun, with the first no-cleaning day taking place yesterday (25 Apr). The PHC is coordinating with town councils to schedule an SG Clean Day once every quarter this year, and once every month by 2022.
All 17 town councils were involved in the “SG Clean Day” initiative as part of the yearly “Keep Clean, Singapore!” campaign.
In place of town-council-employed cleaners, residents will be encouraged to volunteer picking up litter in groups of eight to comply with COVID-19 regulations.
Looks like it’s time to answer the question: are we a clean Singapore or a cleaned Singapore?
Other Initiatives Galore
The participation of volunteers will also be a focal point in the PHC’s plans for World Environment Day, in an event scheduled to happen on 29 May.
The activities lined up include the BlockWalk, where volunteers will be dispersed across the country to remove litter in neighbourhoods and community spaces.
The initiative, supported by Habitat for Humanity Singapore, is expected to draw 300 to 1,000 volunteers, a turnout that would make it the largest neighbourhood clean-up event of the year.
The PHC will also resume its Buddy Clean workshops, after they were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The workshops are designed to promote personal responsibility among students by cleaning up any litter they may leave behind in public, and count towards the Character & Citizenship curriculum requirements.
The PHC will also replace the National Environment Agency (NEA) in issuing SG Clean certifications for premises that meet sanitation and hygiene requirements.
The scheme was introduced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to promote social responsibility and hygiene, and different categories of premises will be required to meet criteria specific to the industry.
For a hawker stall, for example, criteria include not handling cooked food with bare hands, the proper disposal of waste, and regular ventilation.
A shopping mall would be required to devise a plan for managing suspected COVID-19 cases, as well as setting up temperature scan posts for all employees and visitors.
We really hope SG Clean restaurants don’t practise SG Clean Days, though.
Feature Image: Yulia YasPe / Shutterstock.com
