Singapore keen on hiring Pinoy construction workers

Singapore is sourcing out construction workers from Sri Lanka and the Philippines, local media Channel NewsAsia quoted the city-state's Building and Construction Authority (BCA) as saying on Tuesday. The BCA said it will set up two test centers in Sri Lanka, which are expected to be operated in six months, while at the same time, the country is also seeking the approval from Philippine authorities to establish test centers in the country. China, India and Bangladesh are currently the main source countries of foreign construction workers. The authority said they hope to "be less reliant on these countries" and "boost supply and diversify the source for foreign labor" by adding Sri Lankans and Filipinos as their new choice. "What we are seeing now is that the major sources like China, India, because of the fast development the number of workers is actually coming down over time, because there are plenty of jobs there." the report quoted Neo Choon Keong, the BCA's group director of manpower and strategies policy, as saying. A recent survey by the authorities had said that the demand for foreign construction workers in Singapore will increase from 250, 000 in 2011 to about 280,000 in the next two to three years. However, on the authorities side, it recently has tightened the foreign worker policies to reduce the reliance of certain sectors on cheap foreign labor. The BCA added that most workers in Sri Lanka and Philippines speak English and this will help improve communication on the construction site. Singapore now has 26 overseas testing centers in China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar, where construction workers firstly go through a training regime before coming to the city- state. It is said that some 12,000 foreign construction workers have upgraded their skills through these various programmes. -PNA/Xinhua/Philippine News