Singapore — On Monday morning (Nov 1), the Progress Singapore Party posted on its Facebook account the questions its Non-Constituency Members of Parliament will be asking at the session today.
NCMPs Leong Mun Wai will also be bringing up the issue of the vaccination rate for migrant workers who live in dormitories, posing specific questions regards the alleged breach of Covid measures at the Westlite Jalan Tukang dormitory, where an incident of unrest caused riot police to be deployed on Oct 13.
The NCMP will pose the following questions addressed to the Minister of Manpower, including:
— with regards to Westlite Jalan Tukang Dormitory, whether there is non-segregation of workers who tested positive for COVID-19, substandard quality of food provided and lack of access to medical support
— if so, who will be responsible for these lapses in the migrant workers’ living conditions
On Oct 13, videos of riot police deployed at the dormitory circulated on social media. Crowds were also seen gathering outside the dorm.
Shortly before 1 pm, the Singapore Police Force received a call for assistance from the dorm.
After the incident, MOM investigated complaints concerning the dormitory, which involve Covid-19 breaches including the lack of access for workers’ to obtain medical help as well as the alleged poor quality of catered food.
The complaints first surfaced on Chinese messaging and chat platform Weixin on Oct 12, alleging that hundreds of Chinese guest workers were trapped inside the dorm with those who tested positive for Covid remaining together with those who were negative instead of them being sent to recover in isolation at a facility, among other complaints.
A spokesperson from MOM said, “preliminary investigations found that there were indeed some delays in conveyancing workers who tested positive for COVID-19 from their rooms to a care or recovery facility to recover.”
MOM added that it would move workers who needed medical assistance to healthcare facilities and that the roommates of those who tested positive could go back to work after testing negative on antigen rapid tests.
The Ministry also said that the complaints regarding the quality of food have been forwarded to the caterer.
On Oct 16, MOM said that slightly over half of the migrant workers at the dormitory have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or have verified their vaccination status.
The ministry clarified that it deployed “insufficient resources” for an “unexpected” increase in Covid-19 cases at the dormitory, which led to delays in transferring the workers to care or recovery facilities.
Chief of MOM’s Assurance, Care and Engagement (ACE) Group Tung Yui Fai also revealed that a considerable number of the migrant workers at the dormitory were not vaccinated against Covid-19.
“Many of them have arrived in Singapore not too many months ago and are worried about infection as Singapore is transiting to ‘living with COVID’. Hence, it is important to explain to them how we are doing this,” said Mr Tung.
/TISG