Woman arrested over 'killer litter' 06 Sep 2000

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Woman arrested over 'killer litter'

06 Sep 2000

Singapore - A 59-year-old woman has been arrested over the death of a five-year-old hit by a falling plant pot, as Singapore intensifies a crackdown to stop "killer-litter" being thrown from high-rise apartments.

The woman has been charged with causing death "by a rash or negligent act", the Straits Times reported on Wednesday.

If convicted, she faces a maximum two-year jail term, a Singapore $1 000 US$580 fine and will lose her home if she lives in a government-built Housing Development Board (HDB) complex.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said harsher maximum penalities would be included in new provisions being planned for the penal code.

Litter throwing has been a problem in this island state, where 90 percent of the four million people live in high-rise apartments, most of them provided by the HDB.

The Singapore government vowed to get tough on killer-litter after complaints that bicycles, television sets, bottles and coffee mugs among other items have been hurled out of high-rise windows.

Public outrage and calls for action peaked in April when five-year-old Cheryl Goh was killed by a hurtling flower pot as she was walking home.

She was directly below her HDB apartment when she was hit.

National Development Minister Mah said the new laws would retain the compulsory acquisition of HDB flats, which has been criticised as being too harsh, for it penalised innocent members of the offender's family.

"The introduction of specific and enhanced punishment in the penal code recognises the community's strong stand against killer litter," he told parliament recently.

Although flats would still be taken back, the measure was reserved for "very serious, or recalcitrant offenders", who would be barred for five years from buying or renting another HDB flat.

In less serious cases, offenders would lose their high-rise apartment but could buy or rent a ground or first floor flat.

Although the government could not take similar action against private estates, Mah said the management corporations could. - Sapa-AFP