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1020 Written Answer by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng to PQ on Reasons for Government's Venture into Private Sector Space of Construction of Migrant Worker Dormitories

Foreign manpower

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1450 OF 2022 FOR THE SITTING ON 20 OCTOBER 2022
QUESTION NO. 3617 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Seah Kian Peng
To ask the Minister for Manpower in light of new migrant worker dormitories to be built by the Government (a) whether such a move will crowd out private operators; and (b) what are the reasons for the Government venturing into what appears to be private sector space.

Answer:

1. The purpose of building and owning two new migrant worker (MW) Purpose-Built Dormitories (PBDs) is to provide the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) with the opportunity to drive innovation and transform practices in migrant worker housing in areas of public health resilience and liveability.

2. Operating the two dormitories will not crowd out private operators as these are just two PBDs out of more than fifty PBDs, and around 4% of the number of PBD beds operated by the private sector. The Government will continue to launch private tenders for the development of new migrant worker dormitories based on the overall housing needs of our migrant workforce. Further details are in the remarks delivered at the launch event on 1 October 2022, which is available on MOM’s website.