Labour shortage in waste disposal service: ENV studying two options
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THE tight labour market may result in one-man-operated waste collection for all landed housing estates or a complete privatisation of the Environment Ministry’s refuse collection services.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Mah Bow Tan, said that these are two options being considered in the review of ENV’s highly labour-intensive services.
Speaking at the opening of the Green Plan exhibition at the World Trade Centre Hall 3 yesterday, Mr Mah, who is also the Minister for Communications, said that ENV is finding it difficult to recruit and retain new refuse collection workers.
Also, the refuse output has multiplied four-fold in the last 20 years, creating a situation where more refuse needs to be collected, while fewer people are willing to do the job.
The minister added that the one-man-operated system, where residents bring out and deposit the refuse into the refuse trucks themselves, may be expanded to all landed estates.
The system has already been tested out at Sennett Estate and Pasir Ris Beach Park Estate.
The other option being studied is the eventual corporatisation or privatisation of the refuse collection service.
Mr Mah said that the ministry is likely to try it out on a limited scale at a few town councils first before making a decision on it.
In an earlier Straits Times report, private waste disposal companies, which already collect most of the commercial and industrial refuse here, said they could do ENV’s waste disposal job more efficiently and, possibly, at a lower cost too.
Turning to electric cars, Mr Mah said the ministry is following international developments closely, and that it is quite possible that electric cars would be on Singapore roads before the year 2000.
GP Batteries International, one of the companies at the Green Plan exhibition, unveiled a modified Suzuki Swift electric car equipped with a Nickel Metal Hydride battery, capable of a top speed of 120 kmh and a maximum range of 215 km on a single charge, faster and further than what most electric batteries allow currently.
It plans to bring in two vehicles next year for further research and testing.
Source : The Straits Times, November 10, 1993
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