Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Staff work through the night to clear countdown party venues of rubbish
Lim Yi Han Straits Times 2 Jan 13;

AS PARTYGOERS geared up to celebrate the new year, an army of cleaners were painstakingly picking up litter.

At the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2013, preparations, such as placing of bins, began as early as 3pm on Monday. The big cleanup continued through the night to 11am yesterday, said Mr Edy Tan, 38, operations manager of cleaning firm Chye Thiam Maintenance.

About 350 cleaners were deployed at the event, which was the island's biggest party with some 260,000 people turning up.

But there was less litter than the year before because the rain meant fewer people came, said Mr Tan. At the previous event, some 300,000 partygoers turned up.

"The emcees were also telling the crowd to take care of their own rubbish, so that helped," he added. More bins were put out this year - 257, up from 247 the last time around.

Still, clearing the mess was no easy job.

One 24-year-old cleaner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Wu, said in Mandarin: "There's a lot of rubbish, especially after the fireworks when many people start to leave."

Countdown parties tend to leave a bigger mess than other events, such as the National Day Parade and Formula One race, as they attract larger crowds.

At Marina Bay, more than 40 National Environment Agency officers were on the lookout for litterbugs and illegal hawkers.

They were among the 157 officers at 10 major countdown events across the island - 20 per cent more than last year. In total, 59 litterbugs were booked, mostly for throwing cigarette butts, down from 70 the year before.

Meanwhile, the Siloso Beach Party, with its 19,000 revellers, needed 50 cleaners to help keep the sand as spotless as possible. "Green ambassadors" also walked around collecting plastic cups from partygoers for recycling.

They were part of an initiative by four students from Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. Called "Project Bin&Go", it aims to promote stronger recycling habits among Singaporeans.

Team leader Nurkhairah Sumarto, 23, said they wanted to raise awareness of recycling among partygoers because "we have frequently heard of and witnessed for ourselves the large amount of trash generated from mega outdoor events and concerts".