Town council cleaners to get day off on 26 Apr next year for CleanSG Day; residents to clean own estates

Cleaners working for town councils in Singapore will be given a day off or lighter workload on one day next year under the Public Hygiene Council (PHC)’s CleanSG Day initiative.
Chairman of the Public Hygiene Council Edward D’Silva told TODAY on Mon (18 Nov) that the council has sought and received approval from town councils to give cleaners a day off on 26 Apr next year.
He stressed that the initiative will not affect the cleaners’ salaries.
Noting that many residents are still unaware that “an army of cleaners” carry out their duties in housing estates as early as 5am daily, D’Silva said that the main aim of the CleanSG initiative is to “show to the bulk of heartland residents in Housing and Development Board flats, for them to see what will happen” when litter in public areas is not cleared on said estates.
“We want to show our residents the amount of litter that they unwittingly throw. When they wake up in the morning, hopefully they will see a different amount of litter around the public spaces,” he told TODAY.
“Residents, patrons and employees of these organisations will be encouraged to be more vigilant about littering, waste generation and waste disposal. They may also take part in cleanup activities and engage their friends, neighbours and colleagues to keep the environment clean,” said PHC on its website.
Stating that PHC intends to extend the initiative to other public spaces and to attract private operators’ interest in participating in the initiative, Mr D’Silva said that the council “was in talks with various residents’ committees and community clubs to form groups to clean up the estates”.
A spokesperson from the National Environment Agency (NEA) told Mothership that CleanSG Day is held in conjunction with the launch of PHC’s annual month-long campaign called “Keep Clean, Singapore!”
NEA added that it is still firming up the details on CleanSG, and will provide more information on the initiative in due course.