2014 Geylang fire: 3 companies fined for foreign worker housing offences
Three directors and their respective companies have been fined a total of $153,000 for housing foreign workers in an overcrowded shophouse where a deadly fire claimed four lives in December 2014.
The three firms were also barred from employing foreign workers.
Ong Lai Kar, director of Essential Clean and Care; Ong Huay Chew, director of Seng Foo Building Construction; and Koh Kok Seng, director of Bestway Cleaning Servies, were convicted on 22 June under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act for housing foreign workers in overcrowded private residential premises.
According to an Ministry of Manpower (MOM) press release on Wednesday, the three companies had been housing foreign workers at a shophouse on Lorong 4 Geylang since August 2014.
On 6 December 2014, a fire broke out in the early morning, resulting in the death of four workers, and injuring several others.
While investigations found that the cause of the fire was electrical in origin, MOM found that there were 22 foreign workers residing in the shophouse, which exceeded the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s then prevailing occupancy cap of eight persons.
The occupancy cap has since been revised to six persons, with effect from 14 May last year.
MOM took action against the employers for housing the workers in overcrowded accommodation. Ong Lai Kar was also prosecuted for abetting the other two employers to house their foreign workers in the overcrowded shophouse.
MOM added that the authorities have also taken action against the master tenant, property owner and other involved parties of the unit under the Planning Act and Fire Safety Act. Their cases are currently before the courts.
Earlier, MOM prosecuted six other individuals and five other companies in relation to the case for similar offences. All were fined a total of $102,000.
“Lives have been lost. Employers are legally obliged to exercise a duty of care towards their workers, and this duty cannot be simply delegated to others,” said Jeanette Har, director of well-being at MOM’s Foreign Manpower Management Division, in relation to the case.
“Employers who fail to ensure that their workers are housed in safe and proper accommodation that meets statutory requirements will be firmly taken to task.”
Over the past two years, MOM said it has conducted more than 3,000 housing inspections and penalised employers who have housed workers in poor conditions.
Foreign workers who have issues with their accommodation have also been urged to raise the matter with their employer. If employers fail to make improvements to the living conditions, workers should seek assistance from the Migrant Workers’ Centre at 65362692 or report the matter to MOM at 64385122.
Employers who contravene any of the work pass conditions under the Employment of Foreign Manpower (Work Passes) Regulations can be jailed up to a year, fined up to $10,000, or both, for each offence.
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