FOREIGN WORKERS (Accommodation)

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how does his Ministry ensure that employers provide decent and reasonable living conditions for their foreign workers and (b) in the past three years how many cases of employers, who failed to provide the required accommodation, have been investigated and dealt with.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, under the conditions for the issue of work permits, all employers of non-traditional source workers have to provide accommodation and maintain their foreign workers during their stay in Singapore. However, some employers have resorted to housing their foreign workers in overcrowded and unsafe living conditions. The problem is particularly pronounced in the construction sector which is also the largest employer of non-traditional source of foreign workers in Singapore.

To arrest this problem, the Government has announced in June this year that construction companies housing their foreign workers off-site would have to house them in approved and purpose-built dormitories. From 2004, this will be spelt out as a work permit condition. I understand that the BCA is currently working on setting basic living standards for on-site housing for construction workers.

Although the new work permit requirement will only be imposed in 2004, construction companies should take immediate steps to regularise the housing condition for their foreign workers. During the interim period, the URA will conduct inspections to detect workers who are not housed in approved premises. Construction companies caught housing their foreign workers in such premises will be warned to take remedial action. Recalcitrant employers who continue to house their foreign workers improperly will not be allowed to recruit new foreign workers. Since June this year, 26 construction companies have been caught housing their foreign workers in unapproved premises and were issued with warning letters.