Dear Friends,
Last week WWS was slightly more active in terms of programmes. We hope this trend will continue. We did a Virtual Learning Journey at Marina Reservoir for 46 new citizens and one Virtual WWE for 18 students from Frontier Primary School sponsored by JSJD. Twenty participants from Alliance to End Plastic Waste Ltd did power boats and pedal boats, in total they collected 70kg of litter and 30 masks (see photos). Maybank came back again to do a Foot Waterway Cleanup for 24 participants and also collected 72.5kg of litter and 52 masks (see photos).
During the week, the CEO attended an interview session with TMJC and two virtual meetings with potential social media platforms and a meeting with the Embassy of Netherlands. Channel 8 also came and did a short video take of our environmental work.
On last week’s weekday patrol at Punggol, two regular members brought one new member on a familiarization trip (see photos). The park was very quiet with few people around, thus they only picked up less than 1kg of litter, including 3 masks, 1 plastic bottle and wrappers (see photo). They found many shared bikes parked indiscriminately and one even had a personal lock (see photos). One mirror was found dislodged from the frame near lamppost E1A-12 (see photo). Patrol reported to NPark immediately. In addition, lots of litter accumulated below the SengKang Floating Wetland boardwalk (see photos). On Thursday, one new member went on the familiarization tour at Jurong Lakeside Garden with another two members (see photos). They picked up quite a few plastic bottles (13 pcs) and 4 masks. Another member did boat and pontoon maintenance.
On Saturday morning, there was 1 group of boat patrol (4 pax), 1 group of pedal boat patrol (3 pax) and 1 group of bike patrol (4 pax). Bike patrol group noticed a lot of litter floating along the water edge of the Bay Central Park, probably due to the heavy rains (see photos). In the park areas, food packages were spotted left behind. They picked up about 3kg of litter and 13 masks. The pedal boat patrol found the WWS biodiversity pond and the Dragon Boat Beach was clean, but the areas in front of the Stadium were very dirty. They collected 11kg of litter which majority were food packaging, others including masks, cans, plastic bottles and cough syrup bottles. Similarly for boat patrol, they picked up 7kg of litter which about 95% was plastic bags and bottles.
Besides regular patrols at Kallang, 5 members also did patrol at Pang Sua Pond. There were lots of cigarette butts and plastic bottles in the plant troughs (see photos). In the park area, lots of litter were found stuck between the tree roots and rocks. In total, they collected about 13kg of litter, including 8 masks, 13 cans, 10 plastic bottles and 2 glass bottles.
At Punggol Waterways, 3 members did bike patrol and 3 members did boat patrol on Saturday afternoon (see photos). The park was relatively quiet when they carried out patrol and was only getting busy after 16:30pm. A lot of litter was found along the old Punggol Road after the Kelong Bridge and next to the HDB. Manmake footpaths and soil erosion were found at several locations in the park (see photos). The waterways water was clean in general with pockets of litter in some areas: litter and debris trapping around the Aerator pump A-23 (near station 18) and under the viewing deck outside Sengkang swimming complex (see photos). In total, the two patrol groups at Punggol collected 12kg of litter, consisting of 6 masks, 22 cans, 22 plastic bottles and many plastic bags.
On Sunday morning, 25 members came to Kallang for duty. With 3 to 5 members in each group, there were 2 groups of boat patrols plus two skippers doing boat training, 2 groups of bike patrols, 1 group of pedal boat patrol and 3 members doing gardening (see photos). Bike patrol group found lots of litter around the Duck Tours area. Under the Benjamin Sheares Bridge beside MBS, set-up fire woods were found which were believed to be night camp fires, suspected illegal gatherings (see photos). The two bike patrol groups collected 28 masks, 63 cans, 27 plastic bottles and many other plastic bags, in total weighing 9.5kg. At the same time, the boat and pedal boat groups found many litter floating in Kallang Basin areas, but the Singapore River was generally clean. However, the pedal boat group found the shoreline of Kallang Riverside Park was very dirty and they collected about 30kg of litter from that area (see photos). Pedal boat also had a trial of magnet fishing but only found half a metal can (see photos). They also spotted a man playing RC boat on the river bank near the fishing zone. Patrol members informed him it is not allowed and he complied and stopped playing his RC Boat (see photos). In total, the three patrol groups collected 48kg of litter from water and 25 masks.
On Sunday afternoon, bike and boat patrol was conducted at Jurong Branch with 3 members per group (see photos). Both Jurong Lake water and the park area was generally clean. The Bike patrol group picked up 2 masks, 2 cans, 2 plastic bottles and plus other plastic bags made up 2kg in total (see photos). The boat patrol picked up 2kg of plastic bags, styrofoam and bottles from the water.
