Monday, September 11, 2006
[RealEdge] TodayOnline : Making room for building boom
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| Making room for building boom Spike in construction could mean wider spread of foreign workers' quarters Monday ?September 11, 2006 Tor Ching Li chingli@newstoday. IT'S a sight Singaporeans are now used to ?throngs of foreign construction workers at the Serangoon area during weekends. Soon you may see them elsewhere too and ?who knows? ?even get to know them better. According to the Singapore Contractors Association (Scal), Singapore can expect an influx of some 40,000 foreign construction workers over the next five years ?bringing the total from 135,000 today to around 175,000. This follows a strong recovery of Singapore's construction industry ?expected to grow by some 30 per cent by 2011, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), with mega-projects such as the integrated resorts, residential and commercial property developments buoying the total value of the industry from an estimated $11.5 billion to a projected $15 billion. And while offsite housing for foreign construction workers is commonly situated in the more industrialised western side of Singapore, some Members of Parliament say they have been given the assurance that future dormitories will be spread quite evenly around the island. Scal executive director Simon Lee explained that while contractors' preferred choice is to house their foreign workers onsite, there may not be suitable or available plots of land there for temporary housing. This explains the need for commercial offsite dormitories. There are now more than 20 such dormitories approved for foreign workers in areas such as Jurong, Woodlands, Tampines and Kaki Bukit. More will be needed in the future. A Ministry of National Development (MND) spokesperson said: "We are in the process of identifying more sites for foreign workers' dormitories. We will release additional sites as and when they are needed." The spokesperson added that the ministry wanted to avoid putting such dormitories ?which can house up to 3,000 ?within established residential areas. This leaves open the possibility of their being located in less-mature housing estates. Said Mr Charles Chong, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol and chairman for the Government Parliamentary on National Development: "Given the influx of foreign workers expected, I think we can expect some dormitories to be built on available land near housing estates. I think dispersing our foreign workers evenly will help towards integrating them among the community." Madam Ho Geok Choo, MP for West Coast GRC, told Today she has had her "fair share" of complaints from residents about foreign worker dormitories in Boon Lay. The complaints range from private condominium owners worried that the conversion of Housing Development Board flats into workers' dorms will lower the value of their property, to concerns about the congregation of drunken workers, noise pollution, unkempt surroundings and even strong curry smells. She said: "The foreign workers have not caused any serious incidents, but we channel such feedback to the dorm managers, and are also working with them to come up with programmes to gradually integrate the workers with the community." So far, these consist of simple acts such as inviting foreign workers to watch grassroots performances and play basketball games with the residents' committee, as well as educating them on the need to use dustbins to dispose of their litter. Nevertheless, Transient Workers Count Too president Braema Mathi stressed that Singaporeans should not be quick to point fingers. "Just compare the state of the site after the workers' gatherings with the state Singaporeans leave the National Stadium after a parade or football match," she said. Ms Braema suggested that foreign workers could have their days off staggered ?instead of all falling on the weekend ?to regulate the numbers of workers at popular recreational sites. Mr Chong said: "There is no reason to be frightened of foreign workers. Shopkeepers and businessmen should even be happy as the foreign workers may provide more business for their shops! "Besides, they are here to do an essential job that there are not enough Singaporeans willing to do." According to Scal only 35,000 ?or one in four ?of the construction workforce consisted of Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents. As Singapore moves to take advantage of the construction upturn, it cannot do so without the help of workers from overseas. A Singapore Police Force spokesperson said that foreigners here are generally law-abiding. In the first half of this year, they accounted for about 14 per cent of all arrests made. Some 60 per cent of the offences in which they were involved were theft-related. Even so, the bias is still proving a struggle to overcome. Said Mdm Ho: "Some people are not happy to see so many foreign workers because they think they are stealing their jobs. So, we just have to explain to them and reason with them. Even if they do not accept these answers immediately, at least they can reflect on them and perhaps come to understand in future. "Both Singaporeans and foreign workers have to take steps forwards to make the environment more liveable for everyone." And since more will move in with the new construction projects, Singaporeans might just have to learn to share the island with the workers who are helping to build it. | |
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// posted by Shajahan @ 10:16 AM 