Free food project cuts meals due to funding shortfall

SINGAPORE — Five years after it started providing free meals to migrant workers who were prevented from working as they waited for disputes with their employers to be resolved, The Cuff Road Project run by Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) is issuing its own call for help.

Faced with a funding shortfall, it has cut back on the number of free meals for migrant workers. If it does not receive fresh funding, the project could be halted at the end of the year.

For now, the maximum number of meals served each week has been capped at 1,800, down from over 2,000, said Mr John Gee, head of research at TWC2.

Currently, about 300 workers benefit daily from the service. The initiative has provided 436,000 meals since 2008, as of the end of last month.

With the cut, the project is likely to continue till the end of the year, surviving on about S$39,000 remaining in its funding reserves, said Mr Gee.

If it had not cut the number of meals, funds would have run out by the end of next month, as monthly expenditure is about S$20,000. Rising demand from greater awareness of the project since the second half of last year has caused the budget to run dry earlier than expected, said Mr Gee.

The project is currently trying to secure funding from organisations such as the Lee Foundation, which funded the programme last year.

“We just can’t be certain when it might come in, so we’re taking precautions to prolong the survival of the programme,” said Mr Gee.

Emily Liu