There will be no cleaning at public housing estates on 26th April 2020. Cleaners will be passing the baton of cleaning the public housing estate common areas to residents as part of ‘Keep Clean, Singapore!’ campaign by the Public Hygiene Council (PHC).
Town councils, responsible for the upkeep, cleaning and maintenance of common areas of public housing estates have already given their approval to give their cleaners a day off on that day which falls four days after Earth Day, which is on 22 April 2020, said Mr Edward D’Silva, chairman of PHC.
Residents will be encouraged to keep their shared spaces clean by not littering and by conducting clean-ups where possible.
Singapore is famous for its cleanliness and green trees. However one can never be too clean or too green, which is why the Public Hygiene Council is holding the National CleanSG Day on 26 April 2020 in conjunction with the launch of an annual month-long campaign.
The objective is to encourage residents of public housing estates to take personal responsibility for the cleanliness of their neighbourhoods and to promote greater awareness on the amount of litter thrown indiscriminately.
This will be the first time such an event will take place islandwide. PHC, formed in 2011 to promote good hygiene practices and to improve personal and public hygiene standards in Singapore, aspires to emulate Japan, where there are fewer cleaners or trash bins and citizens take their personal responsibility towards cleanliness seriously.
Singapore’s mostly elderly cleaners are retiring, there may not be enough cleaners in the future hence there is a strong need to reduce the dependency on cleaners. Residents, patrons, employees, organisations, associations and employers will be encouraged to partake in cleanup activities and create awareness about waste generation as well as disposal.
The council is still firming up the details for CleanSG Day and will provide more information in due course. If this pilot project with 15 town councils participating, is successful, it will organise more of such initiatives.
PHC encourages public to share photos of their CleanSG Day efforts on social media and hashtag #KeepSGClean #NationalCleanSGDay
