BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY (Projected labour requirements)

Mr Goh Chee Wee asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the projected labour requirement of the building and construction industry in the next five years; (b) how many of the jobs will be taken up by Singaporeans; and (c) whether our aim of building up a good core of Singaporean construction workforce is attainable.

The Minister of State for National Development (Mr Lee Yock Suan) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, based on construction projects in the pipeline, including major public projects, such as the MRT, the building and construction industry, barring unforeseen circumstances, will remain buoyant in the next five years. It is estimated that about 25,000 new jobs in the construction industry will be available in the next five years for our job seekers. Many of these jobs will require higher-level skills both in handling construction machinery and in building construction trades.

20% to 25% of the job vacancies is likely to be filled by Construction Brigade enlistees. The balance will be available for other Singaporeans. In the present slack economic situation, we hope more Singa- poreans will realize that the construction industry can offer them skills training and good pay and be attracted to join the industry. Indeed our survey shows that most Construction Brigade trainees after one year's training, are earning more than $20 per day, plus CPF contributions from the employer.

We have made some progress in building up a core of Singaporean construction workforce. Core contractors working for the Housing and Development Board are required to employ a certain number of permanent skilled and professional workforce for their jobs, including the employment of Construction Brigade enlistees. Besides core contractors, other reputable HDB contractors are also encouraged to employ Construction Brigade enlistees. HDB contractors are presently employing 348 Construction Brigade enlistees and providing on-the-job training to 986 other enlistees on their work sites. The Public Works Department will also be requiring its contractors to employ on a permanent basis professional and skilled manpower if they want to tender for major public sector jobs. The Construction Industry Training Centre, which is planned to begin enrolment towards the end of this year, will help to produce the necessary skilled manpower required by the industry.

Over the longer term, as the industry upgrades, mechanizes and industrializes the resultant productivity growth will lessen the need for more manpower, especially foreign workers. It is still the aim of the Government to phase out foreign workers in the construction workforce by 1991.