Stomper alleges cleaner swept rubbish into sea at Pasir Ris Park, MND says worker disciplined
A cleaner was seen sweeping a pile of waste into the sea at Pasir Ris Park instead of clearing it into trash bags, in a sight that baffled one passer-by.
Stomper Anon said he saw the worker pushing debris back into the water along the shoreline at about 9am on Feb 14.
"The cleaner was sweeping and kicking all the rubbish back into the sea. Is this how cleaners are trained now?" he said.
Photos and a video shared with Stomp show a man in a neon yellow long-sleeve shirt and rubber boots nudging leaves and algae near the water's edge with his boots. The worker had black trash bags tied around his waist and he was holding a thin rake.
Anon added that while he did not confront the cleaner, he lodged a report through the OneService app later that day.
Stomp was unable to independently verify whether inorganic waste, such as plastic bags — which the Stomper claimed were present — had been swept into the water.
Stomp understands that cleaning matters at Pasir Ris Park fall under the Ministry of National Development's (MND) Municipal Services Office (MSO).
The MSO was set up in Oct 2014 to improve coordination and delivery of municipal services. It launched the OneService app in 2015 to allow residents to submit feedback without needing to identify the responsible agency.
In response to Stomp's queries, a spokesperson from MND said the ministry was aware of the incident.
"The cleaner was new, recently trained, but did not follow our established procedures of sweeping and clearing all rubbish expeditiously into trash bags," the spokesperson said.
MND added that it has worked with its contractor to discipline the cleaner, who has since undergone refresher training on the proper cleaning protocols.
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