WP’s He Ting Ru: Need to do more to keep migrant workers safe in transit to and from work

Workers’ Party MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) brought up the issue of road safety for migrant workers being ferried to and from work.

She writes in a March 15 Facebook post that the improvements recently rolled out do “not go far enough”. because it still means that migrant workers aren’t

This long-standing issue in Singapore was once again front and centre  after two accidents in five days  last year injured more than a dozen workers and killed two men. Both accidents involved lorries transporting migrant workers.

More than 40,000 people have since signed a petition asking the Land Transport Authority to make it mandatory for employers to provide safe transportation for migrant workers.

In May last year, a month after those two accidents happened, Ms He called on the government to “seriously consider” making it mandatory for migrant workers to be transported in buses or mini-buses rather than lorries,  as well as to put in place  higher safety standards for our workers.

This year on Mar 9, Senior Minister of State (Transport) Amy Khor announced in Parliament that  lorries  carrying migrant workers to and from work will be equipped speed management devices. Additionally, Dr Khor said that each lorry will be required to have a designated person who can stop a driver who is driving unsafely.

New rules to ensure that the drivers of the lorries are well rested will be introduced by the Ministry of Manpower, particularly those who also have work onsite. 

In her latest Facebook post, Ms He, who is a lawyer, said she welcomed the new measures, but added that they do not address the root of the issue: “that migrant workers are not entitled to the same levels of road safety as other road users”.

“Migrant workers will continue to be ferried in lorries, which exposes them to significantly higher levels of danger when travelling on the road,” she added.

She cited the argument Dr Khor made last year concerning the additional financial burdens to an industry already badly affected by the pandemic.

“From a road safety perspective, it would be ideal for lorries not to carry any passengers in their rear decks. But there are very significant practical and operational issues — on top of just cost considerations — which is probably why internationally, it is (a common) practice,” said Dr Khor on May 10, 2021.

Ms He wrote, “However this reason should be unacceptable when it comes to strengthening safety regulations to prevent death and serious injury. In the very least, we need to see detailed studies which show what is the estimated cost impact on businesses to require such safe transport measures to be enacted.”

The Sengkang MP reiterated her call to replace  lorries transporting migrant workers with buses or mini-buses, adding that this could be implemented “in a staggered manner to allow affected businesses to adjust”.

/TISG

Thousands sign petition asking LTA to make safe transport mandatory after photos of migrant workers in lorries during rain circulate