Dear Friends,
Last week we conducted one customized programme for 10 kids from Vivo Kids Singapore, including one session of Bike Waterway Cleanup (collected 13kg of litter), gardening activities and another session of Upcycling Game (see photos) over 2 days. We are very glad to receive very positive feedback from the kids and they enjoy a lot with WWS. We look forward to a sustainable partnership with them. Thank you for supporting us.
Waterways Watch is extremely concerned with the increasing number of MASKS picked-up as litter in the Kallang/Marina, Punggol Waterways and Jurong Lakeside areas. A disappointing and startling number over 60!!
On Wednesday, 5 members turned up at Punggol Branch, 3 of them stayed back to do maintenance and the other 2 went for a bike patrol (see photos). The maintenance group washed and scrubbed the gangway and pontoon. The bike patrol group found the Punggol Waterway Park was very quiet with few people around. They didn’t spot any smokers or illegal fishing, but a lot of cigarette butts was found under Punggol East Road Bridge. They picked up 1kg of plastic bags and bottles, plus 6 masks and spotted one dirty shared bike next to Sunrise Bridge (see photos).
On Saturday morning, there were 2 boat patrol groups with 3 members per group, and one group of 4 did bike patrol at Kallang (see photos). The 2 boat patrol groups found litter at the Boat Quay area and under the Merlion (see photos). Oil stain was sighted at SR R32 which smells like Kerosene (see photos). The boat groups picked up 5kg of litter and 2 masks. The bike patrol group headed to Indoor stadium first then crossed over to the Bay North and returned via Gardens by the Bay. They picked up a total of 18 masks during the whole journey and collected about 4kg of litter, mostly from the vicinity of the Singapore Flyer (see photos). In total, the Saturday group collected 9 kg of litter and 20 masks.
On Saturday afternoon, 4 members did bike patrol and 4 members did boat patrol at Punggol (see photos). The park was relatively busy with a lot of park users and also 7 otters resting on the sandpit. There was a lot of litter trapped in the bushes plus balloons around the wall fountain. A lot of litter, mainly plastic bags and beer cans was found next to Happy Hawkers coffee shop (see photos). They picked up 7 masks and 3.5kg of litter in total (see photos). In addition, formlike discharge from the construction site covered the waterways (see photos). The two aerators at the end of the Punggol Waterways to Serangoon Reservoir were not working, leading to algae bloom and foul smell in the water (see photos). The manmade shortcut footpath next to lamp post E7-3/W-219 and block 316A are causing soil erosion to the main footpath.
On Sunday morning, there were 2 boat patrol groups of 4, 1 pedal boat patrol of 4 and 1 group of bike patrol of 5 members at Kallang (see photos). Members on duty who reached the office early found many beer bottles at our bench (see photos). Before moving out for patrol, members helped to wash and paint the pontoon (see photos). The bike patrol group picked up lots of litter around the Public Toilet B, along the water edge of Bay Central Park and areas around F1 pit (see photos). At the Duck Tour Area, one lady was picking up litter herself (see photos). Members reminded her to be careful and introduced WWS to her. The lamppost A3-68 in front of the Duck Tour Carpark is slumped (see photos). In total, the bike patrol group picked up 20kg of litter and 25 masks. The pedal patrol group picked up litter at WWS Biodiversity Pond, Jetty under Merdeka Bridge and Sport Hub area. They picked up about 20 kg at the first two locations and nearly 30kg at the Sports Hub area. The two boat patrols picked up some litter at Kallang River and found the Singapore River generally clean. The litter picked up by these two boats was 13kg and 3 masks. In total, the Sunday patrol groups collected 83kg of litter and 42 masks!
On Sunday afternoon, 7 members turned up at Jurong Branch. Four members went out for a bike patrol and the other 3 members stayed to do housekeeping. The housekeeping group relocated the posters, cleared all the stagnant water on the catamaran and washed Gangway and pontoon (see photos). The bike group found lots of rubbish washed up on shore behind a pump near the waterlily pond (see photos). At this spot alone, members collected 11kg of litter and there was much more litter under the bushes that could not be reached by members. Including the litter picked up along the park, the total litter collected was 13kg plus 3 masks.
