Migrant worker rights group Home calls for ban on ‘unsafe’ practice of transporting workers on lorries

SINGAPORE – The migrant worker rights group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) has urged the Government to ban the practice of transporting migrant workers on lorries.

In a report released on March 19, Home called on the Government to provide a 12-month transport subsidy to help companies move away from using lorries to transport workers. This subsidy should kick in at the start of Home’s proposed ban and taper over time.

Companies that voluntarily switch to buses ahead of the ban can start to receive the subsidy immediately, and should be given a one-off grant for early adopters, Home suggested.

The report included other recommendations on steps the Government could take towards a complete ban, including taking a phased approach to such a ban.

The report also made suggestions on how to tackle a shortage of buses and bus drivers, and urged the Government to improve the enforcement of existing safety regulations meant to address overcrowding on lorries and speeding, among others.

In Singapore, people cannot travel on the back of lorries unless they are employed by the vehicle owner or hirer. The other exception is in the case of medical emergencies.

Home said the Government should remove this exception in the Road Traffic Act that allows for workers to be transported on lorries, so that everyone is subject to the same passenger safety rules.

The rights group said the practice is “inherently unsafe” and suggested that a ban take effect in two stages to give companies time to navigate the change. Larger firms should be given 18 months, while smaller businesses should get 36 months to move away from transporting their workers on lorries.

This runway would also give the Government time to address other factors that they say stand in the way of a ban, such as a shortage of buses and bus drivers, and the financial and operational toll a ban may have on businesses.

In February, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said in Parliament that

a ban “is neither practical nor viable”

for some micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. “Many of them could be forced to shut down, causing workers, both local and foreign, to lose their jobs,” Dr Khor had said.

This would have knock-on effects, such as “delays for critical projects like HDB (housing), schools, hospitals and MRT lines, and result in higher cost for Singaporeans”, Dr Khor added.

She was responding to a question from Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC), who asked what feedback the Ministry of Transport had received about improving the safety of workers transported in the back of lorries, and banning the practice altogether.

Dr Khor also said the Government is focused on encouraging alternatives to lorries, such as buses. She added that it aims to reduce the need to transport workers, for instance by building worker dormitories near construction sites.

Home said that while turning to safer modes of transport may result in increased costs for businesses, this “cannot be used as a justification to continue with a form of transport that is fundamentally unsafe”.

It urged the Government to subsidise firms for 12 months while they adjust to a ban.

To address the shortage of buses and bus drivers here, Home suggested the use of decommissioned public buses. It noted that the statutory lifespan of a public bus is 17 years, while that of a private bus is 20 years. This means that decommissioned public buses are “operationally sound” for at least another three years, Home said, during which they could be used to transport workers.

To ramp up supply of qualified bus drivers, the Government could raise the quota for foreign bus drivers. Home said that migrant workers it spoke to have expressed interest in being trained as drivers, a role that commands a higher salary than construction work.

The issue of a shortage of buses or drivers “is not an insurmountable issue”, Ms Jaya Anil Kumar, Home senior manager of research and advocacy, said on March 19.

The report also pressed the Government to improve the enforcement of existing safety regulations, such as rules against overcrowding and the installation of speed limiters for lorries.

As part of its report, Home conducted focus groups with 34 workers from Bangladesh, Myanmar and India who regularly travel by lorry.

Workers told Home that lorries are often overcrowded, which leads to injuries when lorries brake suddenly.

Home urged the Government to “lead the way” in using safer modes of transport for workers.

Singapore University of Social Sciences transport economist Walter Theseira said in January 2024 that the Government awards about 55 per cent of construction contracts in Singapore, and could set new safety norms by requiring companies to have certain worker safety standards to win their contracts.

These could include requirements such as requiring that workers not be transported by lorry, he said.

In a panel discussion following the release of the report, Associate Professor Theseira said: “It’s generally acknowledged in developed countries that goods vehicles are not intended for human transport, and they tend to be used as such in perhaps less developed countries, where really there’s no economic alternative.

“But in Singapore, we do have an economic alternative,” he said.

Continuing to allow migrant workers to be transported by lorry “is really a very serious gap”, Prof Theseira added.

The panel also included Ms Debbie Fordyce of TWC2 and Mr Nicholas Chan of Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition.