Higher Foreign Manpower Quota for Town Councils to Better Meet Cleanliness Expectations of Singaporeans

53 Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry can allocate more foreign manpower quota for Town Councils so that Town Councils can better meet the cleanliness expectations of Singaporeans.

Mr Desmond Lee: The Government recognises that Town Councils may face challenges in getting locals to take on cleaning and conservancy work in HDB housing estates where the majority of Singaporeans reside. Hence, we have granted a concession to Town Councils where contractors engaged by Town Councils for cleaning and conservancy work are allowed to engage Work Permit holders from non-traditional sources, in addition to the sources permitted for the Services sector. This is to help ensure there is sufficient manpower for cleaning and conservancy works in our HDB estates.

While foreign workers can augment our workforce to better meet existing needs, it would not be possible to keep increasing the quotas set. Town Councils and cleaning contractors are encouraged to explore automation and other best practices to avoid over-reliance on manual labour and foreign workers for cleaning and conservancy work.

Nevertheless, should Town Councils have extenuating circumstances which require them to engage more foreign workers beyond the quota allocated to them, they can surface the details to MND and we will work with MOM to assess the request.