Singapore, 4 March 2025 – Public hygiene forms the foundation of our well-being. The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) designated 2024 as the Year of Public Hygiene to strengthen our sense of collective responsibility to one another, and for everyone to play a part in upkeeping good public hygiene practices. Accordingly, the National Environment Agency (NEA) stepped up efforts to improve public health outcomes in five key areas, namely:
a) Tackling cleanliness hotspots;
b) Tackling unhygienic public toilets;
c) Enhancing vector control;
d) Enhancing industry capability and leveraging technology; and
e) Rallying the community.
2 The year-long effort included adopting greater use of technology such as CCTVs to improve our surveillance and enforcement capabilities for littering and rat-related issues, expanding Project Wolbachia to reduce risk of dengue transmission, and adopting technologies to enhance cleaning operations. Enforcement for littering, rat-related lapses and public toilet offences were also intensified. The Public Toilets Taskforce also studied and recommended solutions to bring about cleaner public toilets.
3 More public hygiene activities were organised, and more residents stepped up to take ownership of their estates’ cleanliness. We will build on this momentum and work with the community to keep Singapore clean for SG60 and beyond.
Tackling cleanliness hotspots: 36 per cent reduction of litter count at hotspots
4 While the community is generally civic-minded, littering remains a concern due to the inconsiderate actions of some. In 2024, NEA conducted about 130 enforcement blitzes at littering and smoking hotspots compared to 21 blitzes in 2023. NEA also strengthened its camera surveillance capabilities and scaled capacity to conduct up to 1,000 CCTV deployments a year, compared to 250 in 2023. At hotspots, NEA strengthened enforcement presence to increase deterrence with visible patrols, standees and CCTVs [1] . NEA also partnered community stakeholders to seek their assistance in identifying egregious offenders captured by the CCTV footage.
5 A 36 per cent reduction in litter count has been observed at hotspots between May and December 2024 [2]. Four hotspots – Causeway Point, Chinatown Complex, Jurong Point and Vista Point – are on track to exit from the littering hotspot list. A total of about 1,900 fines were issued at hotspots islandwide between May and December 2024. Of these, more than 700 were for littering offences[3]. 30 Corrective Work Sessions were also conducted at these hotspots.
6 NEA will continue to address the littering situation through public education and enforcement. Residents can complement NEA’s efforts by providing feedback, including information on the identities of egregious offenders.
Enhancing vector control: Over 1,000 enforcement actions for rat-related lapses in 2024
7 Reducing the incidence of vector-borne diseases remains a priority. In 2024, NEA focused on upstream rat preventive measures such as promoting and enforcing proper refuse management practices and rectifying structural defects that may allow rats to access food easily.
8 Over 1,000 enforcement actions were jointly taken by NEA and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) against errant premises owners or occupiers, including operators of trade premises, shopping malls, and food establishments. This is almost double the 670 enforcement actions taken in 2023. Nearly half of the enforcements last year were for poor refuse management [4].
9 NEA also successfully trialled the use of thermal cameras for rat surveillance. This complements technological solutions such as passive infrared cameras and borescopes to enhance the monitoring and management of rat activities in Singapore’s urban environment. NEA will continue to work closely with stakeholders to keep the rat situation under control. [5]
Enhancing vector control: Project Wolbachia to benefit 800,000 households by 2026
10 On dengue, community vigilance and innovations like Project Wolbachia have helped us to avoid major surges in dengue cases in 2023 and 2024. The Aedes aegypti population at Project Wolbachia study sites has reduced by 80 to 90 per cent, and the risk of acquiring dengue has lowered by 75 per cent.
11 To reduce the risk of a major dengue outbreak further, NEA will expand Project Wolbachia to benefit more residents. By 2026, the project will reach 800,000 households, or about 50 per cent of all households. NEA expanded Project Wolbachia to Jurong East in February 2025, and Jurong West will soon see releases of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes from April 2025. This year, NEA will trial the use of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes at dengue clusters to supplement traditional control operations [6].
12 The production of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes is currently met by two separate facilities managed by NEA, and Debug by Google [7]. Besides increasing production capacity at existing facilities, we will work with the industry to develop a third facility to supplement the overall capacity.
Enhancing industry capability and leveraging technology: Adoption of technology to enhance cleaning operations
13 NEA is adopting more technology to enhance cleaning operations. For example, NEA is working with service providers to trial and progressively deploy drain sensors, which can send alerts when the drains are filled with leaves, or when the water level is high [8]. Beyond drain sensors, NEA will also deploy four autonomous waterway cleaning machines across Singapore.
14 NEA has also collaborated with the National Parks Board (NParks) to trial the use of artificial intelligence that can help improve operational efficiency, such as by detecting overflowing litter bins and littered public areas. In addition, NEA will commence trials in 2025 on the deployment of autonomous pavement sweepers in selected parks.
Enhancing industry capability and leveraging technology: $90 million boost for Environmental Services Industry
15 In terms of enhancing industry capability and the use of technology, a $90 million boost for the Environmental Services Industry has been made available – the Environmental Services Productivity Solutions Grant. The grant application period is open till 31 March 2027 [9].
Tackling unhygienic public toilets: About 1,300 enforcement actions taken for public toilet offences
16 The Public Toilets Taskforce was formed last year to study and recommend solutions to make our public toilets cleaner [10]. In 2024, NEA and SFA stepped up inspections on public toilet cleanliness. Close to 19,000 inspections were carried out, with about 1,300 enforcement actions taken against premises owners/managers. We will continue to work with our partners and support ground-up efforts to achieve our goal of cleaner public toilets.
Rallying the community: More residents stepped up to take ownership of their estate cleanliness
17 Community ownership is vital to keeping public spaces clean. Under the Community Auditor Programme, residents at private residential estates are recruited to conduct audits on the performance of our cleaning service providers. The pool of resident volunteers has increased from 20 in 2020 to 169 in 2024, covering 99 private estates [11].
18 NEA is also on track to roll out the Alternate Roadside Parking Programme to 45 private estates by 2026, with 33 private estates on board so far. The programme, which facilitates the deployment of mechanical road sweepers, has resulted in 50 to 80 per cent of time savings compared to manual cleaning with brooms and trash bags [12].
Rallying the community: Over 1,750 community activities with 127,000 participants in the Year of Public Hygiene
19 Over 1,750 community activities involving 127,000 participants were conducted last year by NEA and the Public Hygiene Council. NEA expanded community activities with various corporate parties, NGOs and volunteer partners to inculcate a greater sense of common ownership of public spaces [13].
20 NEA further rolled out a series of “Behind-The-Scenes” learning journeys as part of Go Green SG and the Clean & Green Singapore Experiences programme, offering the public a closer look at the work of NEA officers conducting ground operations in littering enforcement, refuse management for effective vector control, and public cleaning performance audits. NEA will continue to partner our stakeholders and the community to keep Singapore clean.
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[1] CCTVs were strategically deployed at 13 hotspots that required sustained monitoring for extended periods of up to six months. This approach allowed NEA to gather data and detect offences.
[2] The total litter count at the hotspots was about 950 and 600 in May and December 2024, respectively.
[3] Other offences included smoking, urinating and defecation.
[4] In 2023, about 670 enforcement actions were taken against premises owners/occupiers for rat-related lapses, of which 80 were for poor refuse management practices.
[5] Visit link for more details on the thermal camera trial for rat surveillance and tightened enforcement from 1 Apr 2025.
[6] Visit link for more details on the expansion of Project Wolbachia.
[7] Verily’s contract with NEA was novated from Verily Life Sciences to Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd w.e.f. 13 Dec 2024. Debug is the business function in both Verily and Google that fulfil the contract obligations to NEA.
[8] 20 units of the latest version with improved functions such as in-built camera for enhanced situational awareness have been deployed for operational testing as of 9 Jan 2025.
[9] Details on Environmental Services Productivity Solutions Grant are available in Annex A and here.
[10] Refer to MSE’s media release for more details.
[11] The Community Auditor management programme commenced in September 2020, as NEA recognised the effectiveness of residents who are willing to step forward as ‘local cleanliness auditors’ of their estates.
[12] Details on Alternate Roadside Parking Programme are available in Annex B.
[13] Details on Rallying the Community are available in Annex C.
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