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SINGAPORE: Industries need to provide proper remuneration and recognition to retain foreign workers in Singapore especially in the construction sector, according to Senior Minister of State for National Development, Grace Fu.
She was responding to media queries on manpower shortage in this sector, which is expected to remain robust for the next two years.
Ms Fu also gave an update on what the government is doing to help meet the demand for workers. This includes setting up more skills training centres overseas.
She said: "By doing so, we're expanding the (pool of) workers, but at the same time, we want to make sure they are well-trained before they come over. So that's really striking a balance between having more supply and at the same time, ensuring that some minimum standards apply.
"Over in Singapore, we're looking at how we could allow skilled foreign workers to stay on longer and the Ministry of Manpower has been very positive. They have made changes to legislation for example, to allow work permit holders to stay up to 18 years.
"So with that we hope that the foreign workers will stay longer and hopefully there's a larger pool of experienced workers in Singapore to help supervise some of the newcomers. So we are expanding the number of workers, but not at the expense of safety."
Ms Fu was speaking to reporters after opening the Construction Safety, Health and Security Campaign on Monday.
She said Singapore's construction industry employs almost 300,000 workers, including those in managerial and technical positions.
In 2007, for every 100,000 construction workers, there were 8.1 fatalities. The single largest cause of fatalities is falling from height, with 14 fatalities recorded last year.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) carries out over 2,000 safety inspections annually. Last year, BCA revoked 51 permits issued to companies which failed to meet safety requirements.
On legislation, Ms Fu said the government has decided to delay the scheme to license builders, which was originally planned for this October. However, this has since been postponed to next January after feedback from the industry.
The scheme will ensure that only competent builders with the required resources and technical capability can carry out building works. - CNA/vm
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