By Er Yanbing, a student at NTU, and reproduced with her kind consent.
The ramped up measures announced last month by the government to enhance the safety of workers transported on lorries have sparked mixed reactions among Singaporeans.
These measures, which include requiring all lorries that double up as passenger transport to be fitted with higher rails and a canopy to shield workers from the elements, have helped to assuage the concerns of Singaporeans like retailer Freddy Seow, 55.
“I feel worried when I drive behind a lorry packed with workers. It’s such a precarious situation where anything can happen in an instant,” he said.
Workers themselves feel that the measures recommended by the workgroup co-chaired by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) are a major improvement from current practices.
Mr Somyot, 44, a construction worker who is ferried on a lorry to his workplace every morning, says that there are “too many” workers squeezed at the back.
He was relieved to hear that one of the measures requires more seating space, effectively halving the number of workers a lorry can carry.
Their views echo those of migrant worker advocates like Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2). He hailed the measures as “moves in the right direction” in the treatment of migrant workers.
But Mr Gee felt that the measures, which will be implemented in a phase-by-phase scheme over a three-year period, should instead take effect immediately.
Citing pressing safety concerns, he said: “These are issues which could cost lives on a daily basis and we would like to see the measures brought forward if possible.”
Manager for the Migrant Workers Centre Bernard Menon however, acknowledged that enough time had to be given for transporters to comply with the new rules.
He noted that implementing drastic changes would incur high costs for construction companies, especially small and medium enterprises which account for nearly 95 per cent of the industry.
“Measures which require installation work have a later deadline to give more time to the transporters. It’s a win-win approach,” he added.
But some in the construction industry still feel slighted, despite the Singapore Contractors Association Limited being included in the workgroup decision.
Director of Blueprint Construction Ernest Ng felt that it failed to consider major operational problems transporters would face, and that simpler measures like installing safety belts and providing raincoats would suffice.
He said that lorries currently serve a dual function of transporting goods and people as it is “operationally most effective”, and installing features such as the canopy will create logistical problems.
“The cabin up there will be in the way of daily operations,” he added. “How are we going to load goods like sand from a forklift?”
But perhaps the issue encompasses more than just safety and cost.
Said Mr Gee: “There’s also this question of respect given to workers, and being transported exposed and cramped on the back of lorries really identifies them as a breed apart from us.”