SINGAPORE – A second statement calling for greater safety standards in transporting migrant workers was issued on Wednesday morning, two days after a different statement was put up by another group of signatories.
The letter, titled End Lorry Rides, Save Workers Lives – Ban Them Immediately, was issued on behalf of 53 co-signatories comprising community organisations and civic groups such as human rights group Maruah and workers’ rights group Workers Make Possible.
This comes after another 47 groups and individuals co-signed the different statement asking the Government for a timeline to ban the ferrying of workers in lorries.
The latest statement calls on the Government to immediately ban the ferrying of migrant workers in lorries and for the Ministry of Transport to set up an initiative to support companies that may face challenges in transitioning to safer forms of rides.
It was sent to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor and 18 other ministers on Wednesday.
“The simple fact remains that goods lorries were never designed for human transport – they are not safety-tested for human transport, and they violate the dignity of workers,” said the signatories in the statement on Wednesday.
