Annoying chewing gum deposits on streets and paths

A reader of this newspaper is annoyed about the used chewing gum left on the street. What was once produced for enjoyment causes quite a lot of trouble for other people afterwards. The facts are clear, however: if you are caught spitting chewing gum onto the ground, you can be fined CHF 100. These fines have been in effect in the canton of Zug since October 1, 2013. According to the Security Directorate of the Canton of Zug, a minor violation is committed when small items such as cans, bottles and leftover food are carelessly thrown on the floor or just left behind somewhere. Anyone who causes “extraordinary noise” can also be fined. Throwing a wad of chewing tobacco onto the ground can also earn you a fine.

Until the Zug crime statistics are published, it’s not possible to determine how many fines were given in this area last year. Frank Kleiner, spokesman for the Law Enforcement Agencies in Zug, says that these figures will be presented to the public “at the end of March”. While glancing through the fines imposed in February, one violation was noted that was typical for the littering problem. A woman left a plastic sack filled with household garbage in a public waste basket in Ennetsee. By doing so, she contravened the waste management regulations (Abfallbewirtschaftungsreglement). Cost: CHF 200. How the garbage police tracked down the woman is not apparent from the decision. One thing is clear: in the summer, violations due to throwing away small waste items are likely to increase again.

Chewing gum should be placed in the mouth, not on the floor.

After the mild winter, temperatures are already approaching 20 degrees these days, drawing people towards the lake. This was shown quite impressively on the previous Sunday. During a visit to the lake shore, Urs Raschle, the city councillor in Zug and head of Social Affairs, the Environment and Security, found that a "free zone" for young people had developed in the late evening. It is his stated goal to "improve the mixing of society in this area". As Raschle goes on to say, social control is still the best.

Raschle is encouraged by what happened in the men's swimming area (Männerbad). Following the change of the operator of the kiosk, a so-called “hotspot” has been successfully defused. "Ramon Nietlispach and his team immediately took on an important security, but also a social role there, and this has had a calming effect," says the city councillor, and he wants to continue along this path. It’s very important to him to stay on the ball in this matter. After all, he has already received one piece of good news: the cases of littering have decreased slightly in the city of Zug.

How hot the topic of security on the lakeshore will be on the political stage can be seen tomorrow evening in the Large Municipal Council (Gross Gemeinderat), when the council will debate an FDP interpellation on this subject.