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More MPs have chimed in on this issue today. Melvin Yong, who's also assistant sec-gen of NTUC, said that "trucks and lorries should only be used to transport goods, not people." https://twitter.com/TODAYonline/status/1391683951538761730
He's proposing the outlawing of goods and workers in the same lorries, hiring dedicated drivers (instead of having workers who pull full shifts double up as drivers), and reviewing the speed limits of lorries.
<scrub to about 4:10:00 to watch>
2/x
<scrub to about 4:10:00 to watch>
2/x
Long term, Melvin Yong says that buses should ideally be used, and proposes the Government exempt such buses from COE costs (like how school buses are dealt with) to incentivise employers to be early adopters. 3/x
Nominated MP Shahira Abdullah also touched on the issue, advocating for legislative change & saying that while she was "cognizant that changes may incur more financial costs to the construction industry. But how do you determine the value of human lives?" 4/x
She says, "the gold standard would be to use buses to transport them" & cites Bahrain as a country that has already outlawed the practice of transporting workers in open lorries.
This was in 2009 & notably also faced significant pushback from Biz. 5/x https://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-4169-bahrain-government-outlaws-worker-transport-in-open-trucks
This was in 2009 & notably also faced significant pushback from Biz. 5/x https://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-4169-bahrain-government-outlaws-worker-transport-in-open-trucks
In the meantime, she says, seatbelts should be a minimum and said, "Earlier on, SMS Khor had said that the lorries are not built to withstand the forces needed to hold the seatbelts. I feel that this strengthens the findings that lorries are not safe for carrying people." 6/x
NCMP Hazel Poa speaking now, citing how seatbelts were made compulsory in all school buses in 2009 following a fatal accident in 2008, and how Gov provided $22 mil to offset costs. "We should now similarly prioritise human lives over increased costs."
7/x https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/all-school-buses-fitted-seat-belts-following-rule-change
7/x https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/all-school-buses-fitted-seat-belts-following-rule-change
On migrant workers in general, Hazel Poa says: "The neglect of their protection & 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." 8/x
He Ting Ru, MP for Sengkang GRC, cites the Road Traffic Act, pointing out how goods vehicles are banned from carrying people, BUT with a provision that allows for the transport of workers when they are "proceeding on his master's business" 9/x
She goes on to state that the argument that safety has to be measured against "increased costs", "leaving aside what it says about us as a country", is an argument that she thinks is flawed. It ignores the more fundamental problem of "our addiction to cheap labour".10/x
She says that while cheap labour is a long-term conversation, the "increased costs" would have less of an impact if sectors like construction could move towards a "more productive, less labour intensive model". 11/x
Ms He says that the argument (increased costs vs safety) is also "problematic" in this case because we "didn't shy away from mandating safety measures" like in 2009 with seatbelts in school buses. Then, S$35 mil was set aside to help buses implement it. 12/x
