A hotbed of trouble

Covid-19 pandemic has ‘opened’ the eyes of the authorities to improve the living conditions at kongsis or risk reporting more new cases.

IT was the open secret that everyone was aware of, yet did not do anything about.

The filthy, unhealthy and downright unsanitary conditions that

foreign construction workers live in this country have been known to the authorities for a long time, yet they turned a blind eye – ostensibly in the name of development.

But the Covid-19 pandemic has now forced their hand. Action, belatedly, is being taken with a number of government agencies and ministries falling over themselves trying to get in on the act.

The Works Ministry, the Human Resources Ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry, the Construction Industry Development Board and Kuala Lumpur City Hall as well as other local authorities have all issued warnings to construction companies and developers to adhere to standard operating procedure (SOP).

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cramped living conditions of foreign workers here needed to be addressed as they were a hotbed for infectious diseases.

“If you live in a confined place, infectious diseases will continue to spread, not only Covid-19, but other diseases like TB, ” he said.

The Human Resources Ministry went one step further with a statement issued on Wednesday to say that the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities (Amendment) Act 466 would be in force on June 1, with contractors given a further three months to toe the line before action is taken.

The Act is detailed about foreign worker housing – from area size and the ratio of how many people can live there. The law makes it the responsibility of employers to ensure workers stay in proper housing with adequate amenities.

With the conditional MCO, this requirement is further strengthened with other SOPs to ensure worker’s accommodation is safe from Covid-19.

Contractors who fail to adhere to the requirements under Act 466 could face action.

But why the sudden impetus to improve workers’ housing? The Covid-19 numbers speak for themselves. More than 27,000 construction workers, of which an overwhelming majority are foreigners, have been screened. The authorities have not released information as to how many of these workers have tested positive, but we can surmise that the numbers are a cause for concern.

Almost all these construction workers live in “kongsis” adjacent to construction sites. These kongsis are nothing more than ramshackle longhouses put together using flimsy materials like chipboard and zinc. Toilets are portable affairs which often consist of a shed with a hole in the ground.

These foreign workers are crammed like sardines in small living spaces making it impossible to practice any form of social distancing and it is no surprise that the Health Ministry has identified kongsis as the next battleground in the fight against the coronavirus.

Mandatory testing of foreign workers in this sector has to a certain extent stopped the spread of the virus, and for that the government should be lauded. But what is more important now are the next, crucial steps that we take.

Our neighbour, Singapore, has far more positive cases than us, with the majority from foreign workers. How they deal with this problem could be a good example for us.The Straits Times reports that Singapore had its first foreign worker Covid-19 cluster in February, when five infected Bangladeshi workers were linked to a worksite in Seletar. On March 30, its Ministry of Health said a cluster had formed, eventually becoming Singapore’s largest cluster, with more than 2,600 cases. From April through May, more workers in other dorms and worksites became infected.

As of Sunday, the figure stands at more than 29,000, partly a result of active testing at dormitories. Singapore’s total number of cases, which includes patients in the wider community, is 31,960.

The outbreak has put the spotlight on Singapore’s 323,000 foreign workers staying in dorms, and how the crowded conditions there led to the virus’ spread. The dense nature of dormitory living has been acknowledged by the Singapore Government and epidemiologists as one key reason the virus spread so easily.

Back home, Human Resources minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan is hoping that the enforcement of the amendments to Act 466 will help curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic in line with the recommendations from the International Labour Organisation.

“Foreign workers are a risk group for Covid-19 infection. This is because they live in crowded and cramped spaces in one housing unit, as well as dirty premises.

“The Ministry also agrees with the views from the Malaysia Medical Association on the need to prepare standard operating procedure (SOP) to enable the implementation of the minimum housing and amenities standards for workers in all sectors in the country, ” he added.

The enforcement of Act 466 is going to have a significant impact on Malaysia’s construction sector. What is certain is that developers will now have to spend more on workers’ accommodation and this in turn could lead to increased costs that the construction industry, already reeling from declining sales, can ill afford.