MOVE ON LITTER

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33655, 3 October 1974, Page 1

MOVE ON LITTER

(N.Z. A, ociation? weillnctun; oct. 2. The Government will probably be asked to introduce stiffer penalties for litter offences. A recommendation urging this action is expected to be made to the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr May) by a special revision committee at the end of this month. The committee, comprising members of the Department of Internal Affairs and the National Anti-Litter Council, was set up earlier this year to review the Litter Act and suggest necessary changes. Litter prosecutions at present can be brought under the act or the bylaws of some local authorities. Mr May said he had received representations from many organisations asking for sterner measures to protect streets,

parks, and other public places. “Rubbish is unsightly, dirty, and a positive health hazard, carrying the possibility of disease," he said. The litter bill added up to “many hundreds of thousands of dollars” each year. A Wellington City Council litter spokesman, Cr Elisabeth Campbell, said she believed stiffer penalties were essential for “people who will not learn.” This sentiment was echoed today by Mr J. Jerram, president of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. “It seems that New Zealanders will never learn,” he said. “The anti-litter campaign, which has now been promoted over several years, has had little effect on some people, who still throw litter all

over the place and expect others to clean it up.” New Zealand cities spent vast sums cleaning streets in a tutile attempt to keep them clean, he said. By mid-morning each day, gutters and pavements were again strewn with paper, cigarette packets, and newspapers. “Look outside any takeaway bar. It is incredible that the relatively small number of people who use them can create such a mess,” Mr Jerram said. “The imposition of fines, as applies in Hong Kong and Singapore — where people are fined from $3O to $3OO (or throwing down a cigarette packet — seems to be the only solution,” said Mr Jerram. “These overcrowded places, the filth and litter of w€tich had to be seen to be believed, are now clean.”