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MOM cracks down on foreign lorry drivers after spate of accidents
DRIVER DILEMMA
Companies say:
Foreign workers now too scared to drive
Local drivers won't work overtime
June 11, 2009
The New Paper, 20 May.
FOR five years, at 7am each morning, he would drive his fellow workers in a pickup to their workplace.
But one morning, just as Mr Rengasamy Murali was about to drive off, he heard a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officer tap on the window and signal for him to step out.
He and two other foreign workers were then taken to the MOM building on 22 May for an interview.
Four days later, their work permits were cancelled as Mr Murali and his two colleagues - all Indian nationals - had contravened the rules by driving company vehicles when their work permits stated their occupation as construction workers.
Four dead
An accident early last month involving a foreign-worker lorry driver ferrying some workers took four lives and left six others injured.
Since then, MOM has arrested 11 workers who have been driving illegally.
The head of Mr Murali's construction company, who wanted to be known only as Mr Fong, said that three of his six drivers had their work permits cancelled and passports witheld on 22May.
'Last Friday, three of my Indian drivers were taken away by MOM officers and I had to go and surrender their passports. Their work permits were terminated the following Tuesday.
'Now, my three other drivers don't dare to drive and I have no drivers to ferry my workers.'
Mr Fong said that his foreign workers had gone to the Traffic Police to get valid licences to drive in Singapore.
According to the Traffic Police website, foreigners here must convert their foreign driving licences into Singapore driving licences if they wish to drive for more than 12 months.
Work-pass holders with a valid foreign driving licence need not convert their licences if they wish to drive in Singapore for less than 12 months.
However, work-permit and S-pass holders like Mr Murali are not allowed to drive for work-related purposes unless their work permits state their occupation as 'driver'.
Mr Murali said while his work permit states 'construction worker', his duty was only to ferry workers around.
Mr Fong, 45, who has been in the construction industry for 15 years, said that he had no idea his workers were not allowed to drive for work-related purposes.
Without foreign workers to ferry the workers around, Mr Fong has told his workers to travel to and from their worksites by public transport.
Mr Fong claimed he has since applied to have another four to five of his workers redesignated as drivers, but their applications have yet to be approved.
He added that while he is trying to employ locals to ferry his workers, he has not been successful so far.
'Many Singaporeans don't want to be drivers. The workers must be picked up as early as 6am, and sometimes work overtime,' he said.
At another construction company, the boss, Ms Lim, who is in her 40s, managed to employ some Singaporean drivers.
One of her company's four drivers was taken away to be interviewed by MOM officers, also on 22 May, and subsequently had his work permit cancelled.
But Ms Lim now faces a new set of problems. She said: 'I have employed three Singaporean drivers, but they refuse to work beyond 5pm because they want to spend time with their families.
'Now my workers are making noise that if they work overtime, they have to take the public bus back and have to pay their own fare.
'On top of this, Singaporean drivers insist on starting work at only 8am, and my workers can only reach the worksites at 9.30am. My driver from India used to get the workers to the worksite by 8.30am.'
Sandwiched
She now finds herself sandwiched between her workers and drivers, as her drivers often complain to her that the workers are noisy, dirty and smelly after work.
'They are all not happy, but there's nothing I can do,' said Ms Lim.
Ms Lim's company is about eight years old and employs about 150 workers.
She added that her workers sometimes work overtime till about 10pm. 'I cannot afford to give them an allowance to take public transport. Already the company loses one hour of productivity every day because the Singaporean drivers leave late, get caught in traffic jams and have to pay ERP.
'All this means delayed project deadlines and my company may be fined. So much extra cost is being incurred.'
When asked if she would pass on the higher costs to her clients, she said it would be impossible to do so.
'I can't pass them on even if I wanted to. I've already signed the contract and no one saw this coming,' said Ms Lim.
Some construction company owners, such as Mr Lee, are in less of a bind.
After his company's only driver, an Indian national, was taken away, also on the morning of 22 May, he quickly contacted his friend, who agreed to become the company driver.
He added that the company's current driver picks up the workers at 7am and 7pm, and is even willing to pick the workers up when they work overtime.
'I'm quite lucky I guess, compared to the other companies,' he said.
Pearly Tan, newsroom intern