Ex-SAF regulars called upon as ‘personnel with operational experience’ needed to tackle Covid-19 at dorms: Mindef

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) started recruiting former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) regulars as the inter-agency task force handling a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases at foreign worker dormitories had asked for “personnel with operational experience”.

They were to augment the Forward Assurance Support Teams (Fast) deployed at various foreign worker dormitories, Mindef said in response to TODAY’s queries on Sunday (April 19).

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo announced the formation of such teams on April 9 as part of the Government’s strategies to manage daily needs such as food, and ensure cleanliness and hygiene at those sites.

At the time, she said that a team is assigned to each of the 43 purpose-built worker dormitories, and each team comprises nine officers from the SAF, police and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

On Thursday, Mindef alerted the public through a Facebook post that fake recruitment messages were circulating through text messaging platforms, although it acknowledged that the ministry was indeed hiring former SAF regulars to support the task force.

The fake messages asked interested former SAF regulars to submit their personal particulars to the ministry and PrimeStaff email addresses, and promised a pay package of S$5,000 to S$5,500 for every “completed month of work”. PrimeStaff is an employment agency.

Giving more details on Sunday, Mindef said that it did not hold an open recruitment and had instead reached out to former regulars directly.

It added that shortlisted candidates would undergo necessary training with the taskforce, including going on site visits, to familiarise themselves with their roles before being progressively deployed in the coming weeks.

Mindef said it “takes the health and safety of our personnel seriously”.

It is working closely with the taskforce to ensure that the appropriate precautionary measures for personnel involved in Covid-19 operations are implemented in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s guidelines.

The inter-agency task force handling the Covid-19 outbreak at foreign workers’ dormitories was set up on April 7. The task force, which involves personnel from the Health Ministry, MOM, SAF and the Home Team, is led by Brigadier-General Seet Uei Lim, Chief Guards Officer at SAF.