Singapore will open its first integrated 16,800-bed mega dormitory facility for foreign workers this month as part of efforts to avoid a repeat of the 2013 Little India riots, the country's worst unrest in 40 years.
This is one of the nine dorms to be built by the government for housing most of the 385,000 foreign work permit holders employed in the lower-skilled jobs in Singapore's construction and marine sectors.
The 16,800-bed mega dormitory would also have a minimart, beer garden, food-court and a 250-seat cinema within its 4.8 hectare compound at Tuas, an industrial area on the west end of Singapore.
The next big dorm would have 20,000 beds when it opens in 2016.
In total, 100,000 beds would be added to existing 200,000-bed dorms, according to The Sunday Times.
The dorm building initiative is part of efforts by an inter-ministerial committee on foreign workers issues, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Proper housing for foreign workers were one of the many issues highlighted following last December 8 riot in Singapore's Little India, where most of the South Asian migrant workers gathered on weekends and day off for leisure and shopping for items that are not available in some of the present dormitories at construction and factory sites.
The Migrant Workers' Centre, which handles issues related to foreign workers here, has welcomed the mega dormitory.
The centre's executive director Bernard Menon has also called for raising standards at other types of housing such as factory-converted dorms and worksite quarters.
The centre is working with the Dormitory Association of Singapore to roll out guidelines for all types of housing for foreign workers by next year.
The state-appointed Committee of Inquiry into the Little India riot said that there was room for improvement in migrant workers' accommodation.
The Singapore government is expected to release details of a regulatory framework for large dorms in a few months.
The Little India riot was sparked by a fatal accident involving an Indian national working here and a local bus.
The riot, Singapore's worst in 40 years, was in the midst of a gathering of about 400 South Asian workers.
Twenty-five Indian nationals were charged for being part of the riot or unlawful assembly, including 14 who have been jailed and deported.
Fifty-two Indian nationals and one Bangladeshi were also deported relating to the riot, which left 54 Police and Home Team officers injured and 23 emergency vehicles damaged.
