By Arlina Arshad
WHILE some foreign workers who clean housing estates are forced by
employers to live in smelly, rat-infested HDB bin centres, eight
Bangladeshi workers in the Bishan-Toa Payoh area are far
luckier.
Home for them is a utility room in a multi-storey carpark the size
of half a badminton court. Their room in Block 81C, Toa Payoh
Lorong 4 has a toilet, a bathroom and two wash basins.
Three older workers sleep on single beds and the rest on
mattresses. They share two TV sets, a standing fan and two
refrigerators for their snacks and drinks.
However, they are not allowed to cook in their quarters, one of
four under Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council which the HDB leases to
conservancy contractors at $800 to $900 each a month.
Conservancy contractors interviewed by The Straits Times repeatedly
cited the town council as a model employer for looking out for the
welfare of cleaning workers and awarding fair conservancy contract
prices.
Yesterday, Central Singapore District mayor Zainudin Nordin told
The Straits Times the town council rewards excellent workers, but
comes down hard on errant contractors. He said: 'When we get
compliments from residents about a hardworking cleaner, or one who
has found a wallet and returned it, we will give him $50
directly.'
Only work-permit holders are employed in its estates, while spot
checks are conducted to detect illegal workers.
Counselling and warning letters are sent to contractors who fail to
follow the rules.
The town council, which has 48,000 residential units in its charge,
has engaged three conservancy contractors to manage its seven
conservancy zones.
To keep up these standards, Bishan-Toa Payoh pays one of the
highest conservancy service rates - $11 for every household unit,
which is twice what most town councils pay.
The $5 to $6 offered by most other town councils barely covers
labour, cleaning material and tools, say conservancy cleaning
firms.
Mr Zainudin said Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council makes it a policy to
'ask for tender amounts that make sense', that will enable the
contractor to do the job properly without undercutting the
competition.
'We look at the contractors' track record, quality of services, and
awards they got. In short, the cheapest quote does not necessarily
get the job.'
Latest comments
What a joke? I have lived in Kim Keat Avenue for more than 10 years
and lost count of the number of times I called the town council to
feedback on uncleared rubbish, unswept corridors, etc. To think I
paid more conservancy fee for such lousy standard of cleaning. They
don't deserve it. I want my money back!
Posted by: taureanwoman at Tue Jul 24 17:03:24 SGT 2007
just wonder how they gauge the said town council as the role model.
is it compared against other town council, we cannot based on the
comments of the conservancy contractor and say that they are role
model. paying the highest conservanacy service rates doesn't mean
that the contractor will delivery quality service....the town
council staff are the people who ensure the contractor deliver
quality services. but do we really get the quality services from
our town council. what do you all think.
Posted by: jejgjs at Tue Jul 24 15:16:59 SGT 2007
you need less than $5 contribution from 1 flat (about 150 household
units) to justify living quarters of $800. Please don't try to
justify across the board doubled-priced conservancy fees based on
just small cost expenses.
Posted by: jenicachua at Tue Jul 24 14:54:32 SGT 2007
totally agreed... I live in Kim Keat and there are always
crocoaches running around.
Posted by: dlau at Tue Jul 24 13:48:53 SGT 2007
I live at Block 146 Bishan and I welcome visitors to gauge for
themselves the generally appalling state of cleanliness in my block
(and its vacinity). It seems that the number of times the corridors
are washed or the individual floors swept have diminished over the
years with each change of contractor. So to hold the precinct as a
model of efficiency seems a little rather far fetched to someone
who actually lives there.
Posted by: alastairleo at Tue Jul 24 09:16:58 SGT 2007