SINGAPORE - Calling again for urgent action to prevent road accidents involving workers, Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) has asked the Government to consider forming a workgroup to discuss the need for a timeline towards an eventual ban on ferrying workers using lorries.
This workgroup should comprise small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other groups, he said in Parliament on Wednesday.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor told Parliament in July, in response to a motion filed by Mr Ng, that it was neither meaningful nor workable to set a timeline for a ban without understanding the varied concerns of all parties involved.
On Wednesday, Mr Melvin Yong (Radin Mas) spoke out in support of Mr Ng’s suggestion to start a workgroup, adding that the unions are equally concerned about workers’ safety.
Mr Yong, an assistant secretary-general at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said that as an interim step, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) should consider banning the transportation of heavy equipment with lorry passengers.
That is because this practice poses a higher risk of injuries and death if an accident happens, he said.
The MPs’ comments came after two lorry collisions in July injured 37 people, including migrant workers. The accidents reignited calls to ban the practice of ferrying workers on lorries.
Mr Ng called for quicker action on the matter, saying it has been in the spotlight for more than a decade but remains unresolved.
“As President Halimah (Yacob) had said in this house 14 years ago, we’re talking about the lives and limbs of workers. Fourteen years later, we’re still discussing how to resolve this problem,” he said. “I really hope that we can have a greater sense of urgency.”
Mr Yong signalled NTUC’s willingness to be a part of the workgroup Mr Ng proposed, to look into “immediate as well as longer-term solutions”.
In response to Mr Ng’s proposal, Dr Khor said there was already an inter-agency group looking into the matter, and it would engage the unions and NGOs closely.
Mr Ng then clarified that he was referring to a new workgroup, comprising government agencies, companies, NGOs and NTUC, that will offer “a new lens” and devise different solutions.
To this, Dr Khor said the inter-agency group already comprises many of these representatives.
On the call to set a timeline, Dr Khor reiterated the challenges and practical constraints behind rolling out a ban, and said again that “it is really not meaningful” to talk about a schedule to do so.
In the aftermath of the lorry accidents in July, 100 groups and individuals signed two petitions urging safer transport for workers.
On Tuesday, more than 20 business groups banded together to urge the authorities to consider the knock-on effects that could arise from a ban on lorries ferrying workers.
Dr Khor said MOT is “on the same page” as those who recently voiced concerns about workers’ safety, including the NGOs. The ministry, she added, will continue encouraging more companies to make the transition from the use of lorries and finding workable solutions in the best interests of workers.
On Mr Yong’s suggestion to ban the concurrent transportation of heavy equipment and passengers on lorries, Dr Khor said MOT will look into it.
She pointed, though, to operational constraints, particularly for those in specialist trades which often require transporting a small team of workers with equipment or goods, or both, to several locations in a day.
Before Wednesday’s Parliament sitting, several government agencies said in a statement that it was “not ideal” for workers to be transported on lorries, but there were genuine concerns from employers about the knock-on effects of a ban.
The issue was brought into sharp focus in 2021, when four lorry accidents left two workers dead and more than 30 hurt.
