Singapore — Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Hazel Poa wants to add a provision to the Road Traffic (Amendment Bill) for the safety of migrant workers.

The Progress Singapore Party member proposes to add a provision to the Bill to repeal section 126(1)(a) of the Act and to mandate that workers can only be transported in vehicles with passenger seats.

Speaking in Parliament on May 11, Ms Poa proposed financial assistance be extended to businesses that find it hard to comply with this provision.

She said: “In July 2010, a Parliamentary Question was asked of the Minister for Transport (MOT) to consider legislating that employers must transport their workers on buses. The Minister replied that we should allow the measures to improve workers’ safety on lorries to take effect and study their effectiveness before concluding that they are insufficient before concluding that they are insufficient and going for a ban.

“The proposed measures include fitting lorries with canopies and side railings and increasing the deck space per seated worker, and have been in place for 10 years.

“Despite these vehicle-related safety measures, driver-related measures, enforcement and penalties and public education, fatalities and injuries from workers being transported on lorries are still seen,” she said.

“It is clear that the current measures for transporting workers as passengers on goods vehicles are not enough and must be improved. The Government has taken strong action in the past in reaction to deaths that could have been prevented,” said Ms Poa.

Ms Poa cited the fatal school bus accident in 2008, after which seat belts for small school buses were made compulsory in 2009. To cope with the increased cost, the Government gave out S$22 million in financial assistance for small buses to be retrofitted with seat belts.

“We should now similarly prioritise human lives over increased costs. Financial assistance for businesses with difficulties complying can be explored. We can also explore whether there is spare capacity in the form of tour buses now under-utilised that will make this a good time to implement new measures,” she argued.

“The workers affected are primarily migrant workers, who form one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. The neglect of their protection and welfare has long been a bone of contention in our society. Reactive responses only when death occurs in traffic accidents, domestic helper abuse or dormitory infections are not enough. The pandemic has shown us how choosing the easier or cheaper path can come back and bite us eventually,” she said.

“It was announced on May 10 that the MOT will review this issue taking into account all views and suggestions.

“Can MOT let us know how much time is needed for this review? Lives are at stake here and we hope for speedy action to be taken,” she asked

“On the issue of safe transportation of workers, PSP would like to highlight that this would be a good time for a holistic review of all the areas related to the protection of migrant workers, such as dormitory conditions, recruitment costs, job mobility and strengthening enforcement of breaches by employers for example,” she said.

Denise Teh is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG