Overflowing trash at East Coast Park calls for bigger bins during long weekends

SINGAPORE: After a Reddit user posted photos of the overflowing trash bins at East Coast Park last weekend, many people took to the comments to say that something can be done about it.

On r/SingaporeRaw earlier this week, u/caledoniaorange wrote that it was their “First time back to East Coast Park in Years.”

“Trash everywhere on the morning of May 12. Vibe has changed from my last visit six years ago,” the post author added.

They posted over a dozen pictures, several of which showed trash bins that were completely full and had bags of litter piled up around them. There were also some pieces of litter on the ground in other pictures.

The photos also showed that some people camped overnight at East Coast Park. Some had stayed in tents, while others could be seen lying down on the grass.

Many Reddit users commenting on the photos separated the two issues of overflowing litter and the people who had camped out.

Regarding the litter issue, some said that this could be addressed by adding more or bigger bins at the park. Others said that the reason for the large amount of trash is probably because of the long holiday weekend, and guessed that by the following morning, NParks would have deployed staff to restore cleanliness to the area.

“I’ve lived next to the park for 15 years. This is not new. This is the morning of a long weekend, where you see rubbish piled up next to (inadequate) bins rather than blowing around the beach and grass. It’s collected later in the morning,” a commenter wrote.

They added that the people in the photos are foreign workers who are “making a start on a precious day off… people lounging around, after legally camping overnight on a weekend. Go back on Tuesday and you’ll find the camp sites clear.”

“This is the result of a long weekend. Nothing wrong with it. The bins aren’t adequate to handle the surge in waste. As we can see, the rubbish is piled close to a rubbish bin to make it easy for cleaners.

“Rest assured, everything will be cleared by Tuesday,” they added.

“ECP is always crowded like this during long weekends, and you are posting these pics before the daily cleanup of the beach and trash cans,” wrote another, adding. “If you want to do something constructive, maybe help with cleanup or write to the relevant authorities to ask them to place more trash cans at ECP (at least during public holidays) and have more public education for both locals and foreigners about our rules against littering/impose stricter penalties?” /TISG

Read also: Singaporeans stand up for man who was jailed for sleeping at East Coast Park pavilion