Pasir Ris West launches multi-agency campaign to tackle rat problem

SINGAPORE: A multi-agency campaign has been launched in Pasir Ris West to tackle the area’s growing rat problem, with night operations, food waste controls and educational outreach forming part of the strategy.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, who is also the adviser to Pasir Ris–Changi GRC grassroots organisations, said on Sunday (Aug 31) that the RatFix! campaign is a coordinated approach aimed at cutting off the food supply and eliminating rats in her division.

Speaking to the media at the launch of the campaign at Elias Mall, Ms Indranee said: "When I moved over here to Pasir Ris, I did notice an inordinate number of rats and I wondered why. I checked with the town council and it told me I had more rat burrows in this division than in other divisions."

She attributed this to Pasir Ris West having a lot of food outlets, which thus provide food sources that attract the rats, and the ongoing construction of new MRT stations across Pasir Ris, which may disrupt the rat burrows there and cause rats to migrate.

Compared to traditional "reactive" approaches of trying to trap rats after receiving a complaint, Ms Indranee said she wanted to take an upstream approach by understanding what causes rat related issues in the area and then developing strategies.

The campaign will adopt an approach known as the “Five Cs”: Cutting food sources; clearing rat burrows; culling; communication to stakeholders; and coordination between agencies, residents and stakeholders.

It taps the collective expertise of the Housing and Development Board (HDB), Municipal Services Office (MSO), National Environment Agency (NEA), Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Pasir Ris-Changi Town Council and local grassroots organisations.

Pasir Ris West grassroots groups will lead community engagement in schools and residential areas. HDB will work with tenants and food and beverage operators to reinforce proper food waste management.

Food waste digesters will also be introduced at the bin compounds of HDB commercial premises, to minimise food sources for rodents.

Other new initiatives being explored in the HDB estates in Pasir Ris West include a pilot of foot-operated lid bins which would eliminate the need for operators and residents to manually handle bin lids when disposing of waste.

The Pasir Ris-Changi Town Council will continue on-the-ground operations and step up monitoring. NEA will provide technical support and share data on rat activity, while the SFA will brief food operators and monitor compliance with hygiene standards.

The MSO will coordinate feedback received through the OneService app to support planning and enforcement efforts.

Each agency will also showcase educational exhibits themed around the "Five Cs" approach to raise awareness among residents.

In January 2025, rat-related feedback in Pasir Ris West surged to 32 cases, coinciding with the Chinese New Year festivities and likely driven by increased food waste then, Ms Kwok Wei Kin, the general manager of Pasir Ris-Changi Town Council said.

However, these numbers have since declined to 24 counts of rat-related feedback in April 2025 and six counts of feedback in August through "sustained mitigation efforts", she added.

"Equally important is engaging the community through initiatives such as educational reminders of encouraging residents to play an active role by properly bagging, disposing of their waste into the bin and closing the lid. These actions help minimise rodent access to food sources, reinforcing our shared commitment to a cleaner and safer town," said Ms Kwok.

The NEA said on Aug 27 that it had detected an average of about 5,400 rat burrows per cycle in the first half of 2025 across Singapore – close to double of the 2,800 burrows recorded in the same period last year.

In the same period, NEA and SFA carried out 480 enforcement actions against premises owners for rat-related lapses, up from 380 last year.

Ms Indranee said that she hoped her RatFix! campaign could serve as a pilot for national strategy for other areas facing issues with rats, though she noted that the success of efforts in Pasir Ris West would still depend on a collaboration between the relevant agencies, residents and business owners. 

"The main feedback I had (from residents) was simply that there were rat sightings, and can we do something about it? The solution is the 'Five Cs', and that solution cannot be implemented just by agencies alone. It really needs the residents' cooperation and the stallholders' cooperation," she said.