Perth's S'pore-style Gum Battle

Civic leader salutes Singapore as he goes for total ban in gum-litter fight

PERTH - THE deputy mayor of the Western Australian capital of Perth has called for a 'Singapore-style' ban on chewing gum amid serious concerns that it is becoming a costly blight on the city's streets.

Councillor Bert Tudori will seek the support of the Perth City Council (PCC) at a meeting on Tuesday to push the state government for a ban on chewing gum sales and for heavy fines on those who drop used gum on the street.

'It's absolutely out of control,' Mr Tudori told The Straits Times.

'I personally would like to see it banned altogether and follow the Singapore style. There is nothing wrong with that. I thought that was very clever of them doing that (banning all but therapeutic gum). I commend the Singapore government for taking that initiative, I really do.'

BANNED IN TAIWAN TAIWAN banned chewing gum - as well as betel nuts - in trains, MRT stations and some designated public places in April last year.

Those flouting the law face fines of between NT$1,500 (S$80) and NT$7,500. Prior to that, only those who spat gum or betel-nut juice on MRT carriages or at MRT stations could be fined.



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Taxed in Britain

IN BRITAIN, local authorities want a penny-a-packet tax on chewing gum to help meet the �150 million (S$468 million) annual cost of cleaning used gum off the streets.

The demand was made by council representatives from London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast at a gum summit in February and is being debated in the House of Commons. While Mr Tudori admits he is unlikely to win the PCC's support for a total ban on gum, there seems little doubt it will adopt a recommendation to seek a 10 per cent levy on any sold within the state.

Such a levy, if imposed by the state government, would then be distributed to local councils throughout Western Australia to help with the cost of cleaning gum off their streets.

The recommendation, made in a report prepared by the PCC's business unit, outlines the response of the Singapore government and steps being taken in South Korea, New York and Britain to try to deal with the gum problem.

The report says pavements in the heart of London have an average of 20 pieces of used gum per square metre - which suggests there are 300,000 pieces of used gum on Oxford Street alone.

In New York, it says, the incidence of chewing gum waste has risen sharply since a hefty new cigarette tax was introduced, and residents are annoyed about it.

'New Yorkers are concerned that their city will become the gum splotch capital of the world,' the report says.

Among solutions being canvassed are changes to legislation to formally classify gum as litter; heavier fines for those who dump it on the street; the introduction of digestible chewing gum; public education programmes; and special boards for the public to stick used gum on.

Levies on chewing gum are already being contemplated in some parts of Britain.

The Western Australian government declined to comment on the issue, with a spokesman saying state lawmakers would wait to see what the PCC presented.

But the national executive officer of the Keep Australia Beautiful anti-litter campaign, Mr Scott Lyle, said his organisation preferred individual action rather than legislative change to improve the environment.

'Our aim is that through education we can empower the public to be responsible themselves,' Mr Lyle said.

The agency was already working with major gum manufacturer Wrigley to educate schoolchildren in New South Wales about chewing gum disposal, he said.

By Trevor RobbFOR THE STRAITS TIMES, April 2, 2005