Progress on Consultation for Transporting Migrant Workers by Buses or Other Modes of Transport

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Transport what is the rationale for the ban under section 126 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 on carrying any person in or allowing any person to ride in goods vehicles.

Thank you. We had on 5 July 2023 responded to the Member’s Adjournment Motion on the issue of transportation of workers on lorries and covered some of the points that he raised in the two Parliamentary Questions.

As stated in our previous response, the Government shares the objective of enhancing safety for every worker, regardless of nationality. We have worked closely with stakeholders and introduced a suite of additional safety measures.

For example, we have mandated that the front passenger cabin be fully occupied before the rear deck can be used to carry workers, required lorries transporting workers to be fitted with canopies and higher side railings, raised requirements for S Pass and Work Permit holders to obtain a Singapore Class 3 licence that will allow them to drive light goods vehicles and imposed higher penalties for non-compliance.

These measures have helped to enhance safety and reduce the risk for workers. The average number of fatalities from road traffic accidents involving persons onboard lorries has halved, from around six per year from 2013 to 2017, to around three per year from 2018 to 2022. The average number of injured persons on board lorries has also gone down by about a third.

Our efforts will focus on improving safety for all road users. We will also continue to roll out measures that address a multitude of factors behind accidents, such as driving behaviours and vehicle speed.

The Government recognises that it is not ideal for workers to be transported on lorries, but we also understand the genuine concerns from employers. In a joint statement issued yesterday by more than 20 industry associations, including the Singapore Contractors Association (SCAL), Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI), Association of Process Industry (ASPRI) and the Singapore National Employers' Federation (SNEF), the employers stated that if the Government imposes a ban, many companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), will not be able to continue operating their business.

If the companies close down, there will be knock-on effects on society, including delays affecting new housing projects, polyclinics and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines, as well as higher costs all around for Singaporeans. Their employees – both Singaporean and migrant workers – would also risk losing their jobs.

We want to safeguard both the safety and livelihood of our workers. My Ministry has been working closely with relevant Government agencies, including the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Ministry of National Development (MND), the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Traffic Police, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Enterprise Singapore, as well as industry associations to progressively implement a suite of additional measures to improve safety for our workers.

For instance, we introduced minimum rest time requirements for dual-role drivers, and we announced plans to require all lorries to be fitted with speed management devices, details of which will be announced by MHA later this year. The Traffic Police will also continue enforcement to ensure compliance with existing traffic regulations.

We are committed to improving safety for all road users and working with stakeholders, including the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to develop practical solutions that are in the best interests of our workers, to protect their safety and their livelihoods.

On the Member’s other question, section 126 of the Road Traffic Act 1961, which regulates the carriage of persons in goods vehicles, is a legacy provision. It has been in the Act since it was first passed in 1961. From legislative records, it is also found in the predecessor to the Act, the Road Traffic Ordinance, dating back to before 1950. We do not have records to definitively confirm what was the rationale back then.

However, we surmise from contemporaneous reports that the likely intent was to prevent lorries from being used to provide commercial taxi-like services and this remains relevant today.

Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. In my Adjournment Motion, I had asked to consider a timeline for a ban on the transportation of workers on the back of lorries.

I understand the reply is no, but could I take one step back and ask whether MOT will consider, at least, setting up a new work group comprising companies, including the SMEs and NGOs with the point of discussing whether we should have this timeline towards a ban on the transportation of workers? I should add that the Senior Minister of State had shared the steps. But just a week after my Adjournment Motion, there were another two accidents involving lorries carrying these workers and another 37 workers were injured.

And as President Halimah has said in this House 14 years ago, when she was a Member of Parliament here: "We are talking about the lives and limbs of workers". Fourteen years later, we are still discussing how to resolve this problem. Deputy Speaker Christopher de Souza had then, 14 years ago, also asked whether we would legislate to mandate that employers transport workers on buses. So, I really hope that we can have a greater sense of urgency; not an immediate ban but bearing in mind that we have talked about this for 14 years now.

My second clarification is whether MOT can consider providing some funding or subsidies towards this transition towards safer modes of transport. I understand the constraints that SMEs face and I think the Government can provide a helping hand to them and also help the workers at the same time.

I thank the Member for his supplementary questions and comments. First, let me say that his two supplementary questions were also covered in my reply to his Adjournment Motion last month. But let me also reiterate that we have said that it is not ideal to transport workers on lorries. Having said that, we understand the concerns of the industry and, as Members have seen, they have laid it out in detail in a joint statement that they sent yesterday.

There are real, practical and operational constraints for them to transit. Hence, over the years, as I have said, we have been working very closely with the industry as well as with all stakeholders, the unions, for instance, and industry experts, to look at additional measures that we can put in place in order to improve safety for these workers.

I want to thank the Member for stating his concern for the workers' safety and also the NGOs who have submitted petitions expressing their concerns for these workers. In fact, we are all on the same page. The industry associations – more than 20 of them – have also stated their commitment to improve and ensure the safety and welfare of the workers.

And so has the Government. Our commitment is to ensure the safety of all road users, including all our workers. Therefore, the way forward is for us to continue to work closely together in order to look at practical solutions. Solutions which are implementable, workable at the ground, and in the best interests of the workers to protect their safety as well as their livelihoods. And as I have said, we have been doing this. We have also recently introduced a slate of measures.

The statistics themselves show that there has been impact and there has been improvement in terms of the number of injuries and fatalities of workers being transported on board lorries. In fact, we have also said in our statement that was issued by the various agencies that, over the past five years, for instance, to put in context, the proportion of persons on board lorries who have suffered injuries from traffic accidents, on average, is about 4%.

Amongst all vehicle types, the highest proportion of injuries of people involved in road traffic accidents are motorcycles, at around 50% over the same period. We will continue to work. This is really a work-in-progress. It will remain our priority – the safety of all road users, including workers who are transported on lorries – and we will have to work closely with the industry to see how we can address some of these challenges and issues, encourage more to transit and also, at the same time, look at other measures that we can put in place, where feasible and effective, to enhance safety for the workers.

With regard to the Member's question about timeline, I think I have already answered that before. There are challenges, practical constraints and difficulties and, therefore, it is really not meaningful to talk about a timeline. The other issue about working together, we have already said that we want to work together with everyone, including the NGOs.

I thank the Member for his suggestions. Indeed, we do have an interagency work group that is working on this and, indeed, we will work closely with the unions as well as take into account the feedback from the NGOs.

As regard to further measures that we could put in place, for instance, the Member's suggestion about prohibiting the transport of equipment as well as passengers, there are actually difficulties and operational constraints for this, particularly for those, say, in the specialist trade. But we will continue to look at this and other suggestions.

Let me thank the Member for his suggestion. This is something that we can look into. But let me say that the group that is working on this – the interagency – is not called a "work group", but there is a group that is working on this that already consults many of these representatives.