Wednesday, 01 Apr 2020 08:30 AM MYT
At Tuesday’s press briefing by the multi-ministry task force for Covid-19, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo reiterated that the Singapore Government does not intend to extend the accommodation support programme, which had provided S$50 a day a worker to offset employers’ costs for the initial two-week lockdown period in Malaysia.
He has now rented a Housing and Development Board flat in Bukit Merah to house five workers who still needed accommodation. With the Government’s help, the company had earlier put up its 80 displaced Malaysian workers in various hotels with a combined cost of about S$36,000. “I hope service buyers can take into consideration the insufficient turnaround time to employ new workers to fill up the gap and not impose liquidated damages during this period, but work towards a feasible stepped-down security plan instead,” he added.
Together with the S$10-a-day food subsidy that his firm provides to its workers, the total extra cost for Ademco runs up to about S$15,000 for the added two-week period, Mr Koh pointed out.Some Malaysian work permit holders who usually commute across the border daily told TODAY that they had to scramble again — for the second time this month – to find cheaper temporary accommodation because their employers had stopped supporting them.
The father of two children aged two and 16 months said that two weeks of being apart from his family has also taken a toll on him.