Source: Asia Pacific Region 2 – Singapore
Good refuse management and housekeeping practices must continue to lower the risk of rat infestations
Singapore, 14 February 2025 – In 2024, in line with the Year of Public Hygiene, the National Environment Agency (NEA) stepped-up enforcement action for rat-related lapses. Over 1,000 enforcement actions were jointly taken by NEA and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) against premises owners or occupiers, including operators of trade premises, shopping malls, and food establishments. This is almost double the 670 enforcement actions taken in 2023. Nearly half of the enforcements last year were for poor refuse management.
Upstream measures key to effectively and sustainably reduce the risk of rat infestation
2 From 1 April 2025, NEA will tighten enforcement against premises managers and owners for rat-related lapses in three key areas: (i) poor refuse management and housekeeping practices that create conditions favourable for the propagation of rats, (ii) defects in refuse handling facilities (e.g. bins, bin centres) that can potentially serve as entry points for rats, and (iii) the presence of rat nests. This aims to reinforce the importance of premises managers implementing proper rat prevention and control measures proactively, which improves overall cleanliness standards and reduces the risk of rat infestations.
3 Premises managers and owners who fail to practise proper refuse management or create conditions favourable to the harbouring or propagating of rats are subject to enforcement by NEA under the Environmental Public Health Act (EPHA) and the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act (CVPA) respectively. The maximum penalty under the CVPA is a fine of up to $20,000 or imprisonment for up to 3 months, or both, for a first offence. For a first offence under the Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations, premises owners can be fined up to a maximum of $1,000 and to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
Everyone has a part to play in keeping the rat population low
4 Relying on enforcement alone would be insufficient to mitigate rat infestations in the longer term. NEA will continue to adopt a multi-pronged approach to address the situation through active surveillance [1] and stakeholder engagement. This enables us to make informed decisions to carry out targeted interventions, thereby improving the effectiveness of our public hygiene efforts. Findings from our island-wide surveillance of rat burrows are also analysed and shared with relevant stakeholders such as Town Councils and land agencies, for them to carry out upstream preventive and downstream control measures.
5 Management of the rat population requires a community-wide effort, and everyone needs to play a part to keep rats away, by keeping our premises and our living environment clean:
- Individuals should bag and dispose food waste properly into refuse bins. Keep the bin cover shut, where applicable.
- Businesses should bag, tie, and dispose of food waste into covered bins. Maintain the bin in good repair, keep the bin cover shut and keep the surrounding environment free of clutter.
- Food handlers should secure food items above the ground and store them in tightly covered containers so that rats cannot access
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[1] More information on technologies adopted by NEA for rat surveillance can be found in Annex A
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Annex A
Leveraging Technology for Surveillance
To enhance operations capabilities, NEA leverages technology such as sensors, infrared cameras, thermal cameras and borescopes to detect and monitor rat activities. By leveraging technology and data, NEA can make informed decisions to carry out targeted interventions, thereby improving the effectiveness of our public hygiene efforts.
2 Thermal cameras can:
- Discreetly monitor an area without disturbing or alerting the rats who are known to be neophobic.
- Capture clear thermal images of rats and its movements.
- Provide data to show places with rat activities or where rats congregate. This data can be shared with premises operators and stakeholders for them to finetune their rat control measures.
3 In 2024, NEA successfully trialled the use of thermal surveillance cameras at the back-lanes of two hotspots – Buffalo Road and Telok Ayer Street. The trial has since led to positive results.
- Surveillance cameras were able to capture footage of rat activities and routes used by rats to access possible food sources and congregation at specific areas.
- Data allowed NEA officers to visualise the distribution of rat activities temporally and spatially.
- Enabled NEA and stakeholders to put in place targeted intervention measures to remove the rats and prevent reinfestation via adoption of upstream measures (e.g. identification of structures used by rats and removing them to prevent access to food or areas of harbourage).
- 13 enforcement actions were taken against premises owners for public hygiene/cleanliness lapses and for creating conditions favourable for the propagation of vectors.
4 Given the positive outcome from the pilot, NEA will include thermal surveillance cameras into its suite of surveillance technologies. This addition aims to improve operational effectiveness in monitoring and tackling the rat population. The thermal cameras will complement existing surveillance methods, enhancing NEA’s overall capability to detect, respond and guide stakeholders and premises managers to resolve rat issues. NEA will continue to explore other forms of technology, which includes the use of video analytics.