Singapore legislation
Section 27
Section 27
Prohibition against depositing refuse, etc., in any public place
(1)
Any person who —
places, deposits or throws any dust, dirt, paper, ashes, carcase, refuse, boxes, barrels, bales or other article or thing in any public place;
keeps or leaves any article or thing whatsoever in any place where it or particles therefrom have passed or are likely to pass into any public place;
dries any article of food or other article or thing in any public place;
throws, places, spills or scatters any blood, brine, swill, noxious liquid or other offensive or filthy matter of any kind in such manner as to run or fall into any public place;
drops, spills or scatters any dirt, sand, earth, gravel, clay, loam, stone, grass, straw, shavings, sawdust, ashes, garden refuse, stable refuse, trade refuse, manure, garbage or any other thing or matter in any public place, whether from a moving or stationary vehicle or in any other manner;
sieves, shakes, cleans, beats or otherwise agitates any lime, ashes, sand, coal, hair, waste paper, feathers or other substance in such manner that it is carried or likely to be carried by the wind to any public place; or
throws or leaves behind any bottle, glass, can, food container, food wrapper, particles of food or any other article or thing in any public place,shall be guilty of an offence and may be arrested without warrant by any police officer or by any public officer authorised in writing in that behalf by the Commissioner and taken before a Magistrate’s Court and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
(2)
Any person who deposits any refuse, rubbish, filth, garbage or any other matter or thing in any stream, river, drain, channel or watercourse or upon the bank of any of the same or in any part of the sea abutting on the foreshore, shall be guilty of an offence and may be arrested without warrant by any police officer or by any public officer authorised in writing in that behalf by the Commissioner and taken before a Magistrate’s Court and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
(3)
Any person who, in any part of a reservoir or lake used for the storage and supply of water for public consumption or in any part of a stream, river or canal draining into such a reservoir or lake —
causes or suffers any animal to enter into any such reservoir, lake, stream, river or canal;
washes or causes to be washed any animal or anything in or near such reservoir, lake, stream, river or canal;
throws or puts any matter or thing into any such reservoir, lake, stream, river or canal;
bathes in or near such reservoir, lake, stream, river or canal; or
does any act whereby water in such reservoir, lake, stream, river or canal is in any way fouled or its quality altered,shall be guilty of an offence and may be arrested without warrant by any police officer or by any public officer authorised in writing in that behalf by the Commissioner and taken before a Magistrate’s Court and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
(4)
Notwithstanding subsection (1), (2) or (3) or any other written law, any police officer or any public officer who, having effected an arrest in accordance with this section, is satisfied as to the identity, name and place of residence of the person arrested, may, in his discretion, instead of taking him before a Court or to a police station serve upon the person a notice, in such form as may be prescribed under section 144, requiring the person to attend at the Court described at the hour and on the date specified in the notice.
(5)
For the purpose of satisfying himself as to the identity of the person arrested, such police officer or public officer may require the person arrested to furnish such evidence of identity as he may consider necessary.
(6)
A duplicate of the notice referred to in subsection (2) shall be prepared by the police officer or public officer, as the case may be, and by him, if so required by a Court, produced to the Court.
(7)
On an accused person appearing before a Court in pursuance of such a notice, the Court shall take cognizance of the offence alleged and shall proceed as though he were produced before it in pursuance of subsection (1), (2) or (3).
(8)
If a person upon whom such a notice has been served as aforesaid fails to appear before a Court in accordance therewith, the Court shall thereupon issue a warrant for the arrest of such person.
(9)
Upon a person arrested in pursuance of a warrant issued under subsection (6) being produced before it, a Court shall proceed as though he were produced before it in pursuance of subsection (1), (2) or (3) and shall at the conclusion of such proceedings call upon him to show cause why he should not be punished for failing to attend in compliance with the notice served upon him and if cause is not shown may order him to pay such penalty not exceeding $2,000 as the Court thinks fit or may commit him to prison for a term not exceeding 2 months.
(10)
The Magistrate’s Court may, on convicting any person under subsection (1), (2) or (3), order his photograph to be taken by a police photographer or other photographer. Any such photograph may be preserved and may be produced to any Court for the purpose of establishing identity on a subsequent conviction.
(11)
For the purposes of subsection (1)(e) —
where the thing or matter is dropped, spilt or scattered from a vehicle or drops or spills therefrom, the driver or person having charge or control of the vehicle shall be deemed to have committed the offence, unless the offence is committed by a person other than the driver or person having charge or control of the vehicle and the identity of the person who committed the offence can be established; and
where the driver of a motor vehicle is alleged or is suspected to be guilty of the offence —
the owner of the motor vehicle shall give such information as he may be required by a police officer or by a public officer authorised as provided in subsection (1) to give as to the identity and address of the person who was driving the motor vehicle at or about the time of the alleged offence, and such other information as such police officer or public officer may require, and if he fails to do so within 7 days of the date on which the information was required from him, he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves, to the satisfaction of the Court, that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained the information required; and
any other person who was or should have been in charge or in control of the motor vehicle shall, if so required as aforesaid, give any information which it is in his power to give, and which may lead to the identification of the driver, and if, within 7 days of the date on which the information was required from him, he fails to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence.
(12)
Subsections (1) to (4) and (6) to (9) shall mutatis mutandis apply to any person who contravenes any regulations made under this Act in respect of public cleansing.[28