Committee of Supply 2023 debate, Day 5: Melvin Yong on safer transportation for migrant workers
Migrant workers say new rules to improve the safety of workers ferried on lorries do not adequately address the core issue, which is that transporting workers on lorries where heavy equipment and human passengers co-mingle is fundamentally unsafe. MP Melvin Yong said this in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 2). He said with two-thirds of COEs for Singapore-registered lorries expiring within the next five years, it is an opportunity to phase out lorries that are currently approved to ferry passengers on the rear deck, but do not have the proper safety measures installed. He urged the Ministry of Transport to consider revising the lorry approval process so that only those which can allow for proper seats and seatbelts to be installed on their rear decks can be sold in Singapore. In this way, he said, the lorry fleet can be gradually refreshed without imposing additional costs on business owners.
Migrant workers say new rules to improve the safety of workers ferried on lorries do not adequately address the core issue, which is that transporting workers on lorries where heavy equipment and human passengers co-mingle is fundamentally unsafe. MP Melvin Yong said this in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 2). He said with two-thirds of COEs for Singapore-registered lorries expiring within the next five years, it is an opportunity to phase out lorries that are currently approved to ferry passengers on the rear deck, but do not have the proper safety measures installed. He urged the Ministry of Transport to consider revising the lorry approval process so that only those which can allow for proper seats and seatbelts to be installed on their rear decks can be sold in Singapore. In this way, he said, the lorry fleet can be gradually refreshed without imposing additional costs on business owners.
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