Lorries are designed to carry goods, not people
The following letter was published in ST Forum online on 24 August 2009.
Lorries are designed to carry goods, not people
I WRITE in support of last Thursday's letter by Ms Isabel Vadivu Govind, 'Safer? Workers shouldn't be on lorries at all'.
In 2006, I moved from the Netherlands to Singapore to experience a marvellous time living in your beautiful country. However, the first time I saw a lorry packed with people in the back, I was astonished and was convinced this must be an illegal way to transport people.
This is certainly not the norm in my home country. We do not even transport animals this way. Soon I learnt this is common practice to take foreign workers in Singapore to their workplace, but every time I saw it, I could not believe it was legal and accepted.
I did not want to think what would happen to the men if the lorry had to make an emergency stop or, even worse, was involved in an accident.
This should not be the way to transport people, especially when the men are so vital to Singapore's construction work. I had a hard time explaining this back home.
I read in the newspaper that in three years' time, lorries will have to meet new guidelines. These may appear to protect workers but they are far from sufficient and will not safeguard workers in the event of hazard.
In the long run, these small improvements may actually delay implementation of what is really needed: passenger vehicles, with seats and belts.
This is a requirement for all others in Singapore, so why these different standards?
Lorries remain designed to transport goods, and people should not be transported in this way.
Nel Broers (Ms)
URL:http://www.straitstimes.com/
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