Debated in Parliament on 4 May 2020.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) to what extent are licensing conditions under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act based on the Singapore Standards Council's Technical Reference 37 (2014) on the "design, management, maintenance and operation of foreign employee dormitories"; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider updating the Technical Reference, adopting it as a Singapore Standard, and requiring all foreign workers' dormitory operators to adhere to it.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower for each year in the past five years, with regard to foreign workers residing in purpose-built dormitories, factory-converted dormitories, construction temporary quarters, standalone temporary quarters, temporary quarters, quarters in buildings under construction, temporary occupation licence quarters, HDB flats, and private residential premises (a) what was the total number of foreign workers residing in each housing type; (b) how many of each housing type were there respectively; and (c) whether the Ministry will start collecting or compiling this data if it is not already doing so.
Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many Malaysian workers have stayed behind in Singapore after Malaysia started its movement control order on 18 March 2020; and (b) how many of these workers have returned to Malaysia after Singapore started its circuit breaker measures on 7 April 2020.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there is a significant number of Singaporeans returning from overseas and seeking jobs in the local job market in the past six months; (b) if so, whether the Ministry foresees challenges in placing these Singaporeans in the current job market and what are some of these challenges; (c) how can these challenges be overcome; and (d) whether the Ministry will consider creating specific programmes to help those who have returned to adjust to the local work environment by equipping them with the relevant skill sets and information about the local job market.
Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Manpower in each of the past three years (a) how many offences has the Commissioner for Foreign Employee Dormitories charged operators for breaching the licensing standards for accommodation, health, safety and emergency preparedness; (b) how many compliance directives and regulatory actions have been issued respectively; and (c) whether there is any relationship between the violations and the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak at the dormitories.
Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act, in each of the past three years (a) how many public officers have been appointed as Commissioner, Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners respectively; (b) whether the officers are appointed to these duties on a full-time basis; (c) how many staff have been appointed as Dormitory Inspectors; and (d) how many dormitories have been inspected and how frequently have the dormitories been inspected on average.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Manpower how can the Ministry partner other stakeholders in the public, private and people sectors to seek permanent/temporary job or internship opportunities for fresh graduates in a labour market impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
These questions have been responded to via a Ministerial Statement on 4 May 2020.
PAPERCUTS