The Control Yuan’s Committee on Financial and Economic Affairs yesterday approved proposals made in an investigative report by two of its members that called for measures to safeguard the dormitory living conditions of foreign migrant workers.
Committee members Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲) and Wang Mei-yu (王美玉) said that corrective measures should be taken against the Ministry of Labor, the Construction and Planning Agency and the National Fire Agency, which they said had overlooked unsafe conditions in migrant workers’ dorms, many of which are located inside the factories where they work.
As of the end of October, there were more than 700,000 migrant workers in Taiwan, the report said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
During an unannounced inspection, Wang Yu-ling and Wang Mei-yu found that none of the 13 dormitories inspected completely met the regulations, it said.
However, the ministry has never revoked a permit for contraventions of fire or construction regulations at housing for foreign workers, the report said.
In one instance, 133 workers were living in a dorm with a maximum capacity of 90 people, it said.
The ministry had previously required employers to provide proof the dorms were legal, but the ministry removed this requirement in 2008 because it was unable to verify dorm conditions, it said.
However, after the requirement was removed, it did not establish a platform for reporting or verifying living conditions with the fire or construction agencies, or educate the inspectors on fire and construction regulations, it said.
The Construction and Planning Agency and the National Fire Agency have never created an ad hoc plan for inspecting the workers’ housing conditions, nor do they report the results of dormitory inspections to the labor agencies, it said.
The managing authorities for local governments do not control dormitory risks, nor do they ask the central government agencies to examine dormitories that might breach regulations, it said.
The ministry provides local governments with personnel to investigate problems related to foreign workers, but in 18 years, it has only reassessed this policy three times, the report said.
Although the number of consultants was increased to 336 in June, they cannot keep up with the growing number of foreign workers in the nation, it said.
Moreover, the ministry has not allocated consultants to cities and counties based on need, it said.
According to the ministry’s calculations, more than 90 percent of foreign migrant workers live in housing provided by their employers, the report said, adding that more than 50 percent of the employers collect a fee from the workers for housing and meals.
Employers are responsible for providing comfortable and safe living conditions, but the authorities have weakened the employers’ legal responsibility by neglecting to strictly enforce the law, it said.
The Control Yuan said it has asked the Executive Yuan to oversee efforts by the ministry and the two agencies to implement improvements.
Asked about dormitories being separate from factories, Vice Minister of Labor Lin San-quei (林三貴) said they are governed by Ministry of Economic Affairs regulations.
The two ministries would need to consult with each other if amendments were needed, he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ regulations do not require that factories and housing be separate, he said.
Some local workers also live in dormitories on factory sites, he added.
The labor ministry has previously discussed with other agencies the content and direction of amendments to regulations that manage the living conditions of foreign workers, Lin said.
Discussions are in their final stages, and the labor ministry would propose amendments promptly, he said, adding that it must still consult with employer associations and other groups.
The fire and construction agencies and local governments would continue to ensure the safety of dormitories for migrant workers, he added.
MAKING A MOVE: Starting on Monday, short-term business travelers can apply for shorter quarantine periods, while transits of up to eight hours would be allowed The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced an easing of restrictions that would from Monday next week allow foreigners to visit or make a transit flight in Taiwan. A policy allowing short-term business travelers from countries with low or medium risks of COVID-19 infections to apply for shorter quarantine periods is also to resume that day. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that while the autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program is to be extended after the end of this month, special conditions for foreign nationals to enter Taiwan would be restored from Monday. Foreign nationals
‘UNFRIENDLY’: COA Minister Chen Chi-chung said that Beijing probably imposed the sanction because the pineapple production season is about to start in Taiwan More than 99 percent of pineapples sold to China passed inspections, the government said yesterday, after China earlier in the day abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from the nation, which Taipei called an “unfriendly” move. From Monday, China is to stop importing pineapples from Taiwan, the Chinese General Administration of Customs said. The regulation is a normal measure for ensuring biosafety, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) said in a news release later yesterday. Since last year, Chinese customs officials have repeatedly seized pineapples imported from Taiwan that carried “perilous organisms,” Ma said. Were the organisms to spread in China, they would
Taiwanese netizens and politicians yesterday mocked a Chinese plan to build a transportation network linking Beijing and Taipei, calling it “science fiction” and “daydreaming.” Their comments were in reaction to the Chinese State Council’s release last week of its “Guidelines on the National Comprehensive Transportation Network Plan,” which include several proposed transportation links, with one map showing a line running from China’s Jingjinji Metropolitan Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) across the Taiwan Strait to Taipei. “This is the Chinese leadership daydreaming again of [fulfilling its] fantasy of extending China’s transportation network to Taiwan. I suggest people regard it as science fiction,” Democratic Progressive
‘ONE PERSON PER UNIT’: People undergoing home isolation cannot stay in a housing unit in which non-isolated people live, unless they have special approval Starting tomorrow, people under home isolation would be required to follow the “one person per housing unit” rule if in private housing, or stay at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the rules require people under home quarantine to be quarantined with one person per housing unit, or at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility. “Starting on March 1, individuals under home isolation will also be subject to the ‘one person per housing unit’ rule,” he said. “We
RSS