Construction firm and directors fined for housing workers in crammed, unsanitary conditions

SINGAPORE — A construction company and its directors were fined a total of S$257,000 on Tuesday (April 23) for housing foreign workers in severely overcrowded conditions, giving false information to the authorities and other violations of the law.

Investigations by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) revealed that in January 2015, Genocean Enterprises had rented two adjoining private residential properties along Lorong 14 Geylang for a year.

The company then converted the premises into a workers’ dormitory without URA’s approval and housed 66 foreign workers in an area meant for a maximum of eight unrelated people.

The occupancy cap was revised to six unrelated persons in May 2017.

Shi Baoyi, 48, and Chen Ming, 55, both directors of the company, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to various charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and the Planning Act.

Shi was fined S$70,000 and Chen, S$48,000, for housing the workers in overcrowded conditions.

Shi was fined another S$52,000 for providing inaccurate information when submitting the residential addresses of the workers online and for giving false information to the Controller of Work Passes.

The company itself was fined S$60,000 for converting a private residential property into a dormitory without planning permission, with Shi having to pay up S$15,000 and Chen, S$12,000, for the same offence.

The company has also been barred from hiring any foreign workers.

The court heard that during URA’s investigations in April 2015, its officers found that the properties on Lorong 14 Geylang had been converted into 17 rooms containing 116 bed spaces.

The 66 foreign workers on the premises had poor living conditions in the crammed quarters.

For instance, they had to dry their laundry in their sleeping areas because there was no designated laundry area. Toilet facilities were unsanitary.

The poor living conditions affected the well-being of the workers, the authorities said.

In the one-year, S$14,000-a-month tenancy agreement that Shi signed, he was supposed to use the premises for business or for residence.

In 2015 and 2016, Shi, Chen and the firm carried out similar practices at two other private homes they used as dormitories.

Between August and September 2016, Shi submitted false address information to the Controller of Work Passes for 12 foreign workers. He had also failed to update the addresses of another 40 foreign workers between March and April 2015.

In a joint press release, MOM and URA reminded employers to provide foreign workers with safe and proper accommodation. If they fail to do so, they may be fined up to S$10,000 or jailed up to a year, or both.

Members of the public who have information on poor foreign worker housing conditions may call the MOM at 6438 5122. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Shi was fined S$25,000 for providing inaccurate information when submitting the residential addresses of the workers online and for giving false information to the Controller of Work Passes. This is incorrect. He was fined S$52,000 for these offences. We are sorry for the error.