Build more flats with high-tech prefab: Khaw Boon Wan
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The Housing Board's plan to add 25,000 Build-to-Order flats this year will require the services of some 30,000 construction workers who will mostly be foreigners.
But bringing them in and housing them is becoming increasingly difficult, with most Singaporeans not in favour of having foreign worker dormitories near their homes, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Thursday.
This is why the construction industry must think of new ways to reduce its reliance on manual labour, he added. And one solution is to build the flats much in the same way that Lego bricks are put together.
Background story
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan says building HDB flats through prefabricating components of the flats can cut down on the need for manual labour, and thus the need for foreign workers. Already, 70 per cent of HDB building components, such as walls, floors, doors and toilets, are fabricated off-site and then transported to the construction site for assembly. Singapore's first Integrated Construction and Precast Hub is being set up in Tuas. It will have computerisation and semi-automated precasting, reducing manpower needs by up to 70 per cent and increasing production.
Already, 70 per cent of HDB building components, such as walls, floors, doors and toilets, are fabricated off-site and then transported to the construction site for assembly. But Singapore can do better than that, said the minister in a blog post.
