Singapore's contractors association sourcing workers from countries other than India

FOLLOWING the immediate restriction of entry for non-Singaporean residents from India, the Singapore Contractors Association Ltd (SCAL) said that it is working progressively to source for manpower from countries other than India.

In its statement on Friday, SCAL said that the tightening of the measures will "adversely affect" the inflow of construction workings and "negatively impact" the timeline of construction projects, causing further delays.

The negative impact on construction timelines come after the already dire labour crunch situation in Singapore's construction industry since the Covid-19 pandemic started last year.

The labour crunch caused by the pandemic has already caused a delay of construction projects for between nine and 12 months, while the cost of labour and materials has escalated by 30 to 50 per cent, said SCAL.

Further, SCAL clarified that bringing in migrant workers from foreign countries has nothing to do with the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), as the construction industry "needs migrant workers as they form the backbone of the labour force, and the majority of these workers are from India and Bangladesh".

CECA is an agreement between Singapore and India to reduce or eliminate tariffs for 81 per cent of Singapore's exports to India, allowing Singapore exporters to increase their exports to India's consumer market, according to Enterprise Singapore's website.

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SCAL also noted that the lack of a sufficient workforce will mean that Singaporeans have a longer wait time for HDB flats and apartments. Healthcare facilities and infrastructure projects will also be delayed.

The latest move to restrict entry of non-residents from India supersedes a decision just two days earlier, which imposed an extra seven-day stay-home notice (SHN) on travellers from India, but would have allowed them to serve it at their residences.

Meanwhile, all travellers who have recently been in India must serve out a full 21-day SHN order at dedicated SHN facilities.

All newly-arrived migrant workers deemed to hail from "higher-risk countries or regions" must also serve out an SHN at a dedicated facility, before moving to a Migrant Workers Onboarding Centre for an additional testing regime.

This includes migrant workers with positive antibody results, who had previously been granted early release from SHN.

SCAL warned that the restriction may result in Singaporeans inevitably paying for higher construction costs if the situation is not resolved soon.

The association is working with various agencies to bring workers from other countries in the Asean region back into Singapore in a safe manner.