SOME 80,000 to 100,000 foreign workers in Singapore are living in illegal places or in conditions that are "not ideal", said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, who on Wednesday called for better living quarters for them.

The numbers are expected to grow with major construction works lined up. Growth in the robust building sector has nearly doubled in two years, from $16 billion to $17 billion in 2006 to $27 billion to $30 billion this year.

Mr Mah said restricting foreign workers here is not an option for the next couple of years if the economy is to grow.

At the same time, he noted that complaints about foreign workers staying near residential areas have also climbed from 300 complaints for the whole of last year to over 300 complaints this year.

But he said foreign workers need a place to stay with minimum standards of public health.

He listed four possible ways to house them.

*Residential housing. This would be done within certain limits.

*Onsite living. This would be for larger construction projects, such as the integrated resorts.

*Purpose-built dorms. These would be further away from residential areas

*Settling them into industrial estates.

But Mr Mah said that there would still not be enough room to accommodate all the construction workers. Hence, it was necessary to identify sites and provide temporary housing - lasting two to five years - for the influx of workers until permanent housing is ready.

The space crunch has prompted employers to turn to the government for possible locations to properly house the foreign workers.

No decision on Serangoon Gardens dorms

Serangoon Gardens is among the less than 10 sites being explored for use as temporary dorms as there are vacant state properties in these estates.

But Mr Mah said no decision has been reached on whether to proceed with the dorm in this residential estate. He hopes to 'finalise the evaluation' in the next couple of weeks.

News about converting the former Serangoon Gardens Technical School into a foreign worker dormitory made the news two weeks ago, when residents started petitioning against the idea.

The residents were concerned about traffic congestion and security in the area if the foreign workers live within their midst.

Mr Mah on Wednesday revealed that his ministry had not decided to use the school as a dorm, when news reached the residents.

He explained that only a feasibility study was carried out to see if the site could be shortlisted for further use.

He said unfortunately the news became public as 'someone somewhere made a mistake', before the study was completed.