{"id":84484,"date":"2018-04-04T11:13:45","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T04:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/firm-taken-to-court-for-housing-21-foreign-workers-in-overcrowded-conditions\/"},"modified":"2018-04-04T12:03:22","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T05:03:22","slug":"firm-taken-to-court-for-housing-21-foreign-workers-in-overcrowded-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/firm-taken-to-court-for-housing-21-foreign-workers-in-overcrowded-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Firm taken to court for housing 21 foreign workers in overcrowded conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nAccommodations provider Sino Star and its managing director could be imprisoned for up to 12 months and fined.
\nSino Star Enterprise, an accommodations provider, and its managing director Zhou Fengxing were charged by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in the State Courts on Tuesday (3 Apr) for abetting an employer to house 21 foreign workers in a single unit, resulting in overcrowded and extremely unsanitary conditions.
\nThe firm and the 53-year-old Zhou each face 21 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), which requires employers to provide accommodations for their foreign workers that comply with the rules.
\nMore: MOM Calls On Housing Standards For Foreign Workers To Be Raised
\nThis is because Sino Star was the master tenant of several units at a residential apartment in Geylang, and Zhou permitted the firm to sublet one unit to an employer to house the said workers from March to July 2015. Back then, the occupancy cap per unit was eight persons, before it was lowered to six persons in February 2017.
\nFor violating the EFMA rule, Sino Star and Zhou could be imprisoned for up to 12 months and\/or fined up to $10,000 for each charge.
\nBoth are also facing two charges from the Urban Redevelopment Authority for abetting the unauthorised change of use of private residential units under the Planning Act and three charges of unauthorised change of use for such premises. If convicted, they could be fined up to $200,000 per charge.
\nMeanwhile, Reuters and Channel NewsAsia reported that the two Singaporeans who have pleaded guilty of unauthorised short-term letting via Airbnb were ordered by the court to pay $60,000 each on Tuesday.
\nThe two men, 34-year-old Yao Song Liang and 35-year-old Terence Tan En Wei, were charged last December for renting out four private condo units for less than six months. They faced a maximum fine of $200,000 per charge.
\n\u00a0
\nRomesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email\u00a0romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…Firm taken to court for housing 21 foreign workers in overcrowded conditions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Accommodations provider Sino Star and its managing director could be imprisoned for up to 12...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-lYE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":106811,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/number-of-misused-private-addresses-cases-on-the-rise\/","url_meta":{"origin":84484,"position":0},"title":"Number Of Misused Private Addresses Cases On The Rise","date":"May 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has revealed that the number of reported cases of private addresses being falsely registered as home addresses of foreign workers have significantly increased to 489 over the past five months from less than 30 per year previously. The ministry\u2019s statement follows condo resident Ruzaidie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":110875,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/geylang-shophouses-damaged-in-fire-found-to-be-overcrowded\/","url_meta":{"origin":84484,"position":1},"title":"Geylang shophouses damaged in fire found to be overcrowded","date":"September 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The URA is also investigating whether the units were converted into dormitory accommodation without any proper authorisation. A spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower revealed that the two shophouses at Geylang Lorong 4 which were damaged in a fire on 15 September were overcrowded, reported The New Paper. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21662,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/mom-calls-on-housing-standards-for-foreign-workers-to-be-raised\/","url_meta":{"origin":84484,"position":2},"title":"MOM calls on housing standards for foreign workers to be raised","date":"August 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Foreign workers at a construction site in Singapore. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has urged operators of factory converted dormitories (FCDs) to improve the housing conditions of foreign workers, reported The Straits Times. FCDs are factories that are partially converted into dormitories to house foreign workers. Last week, foreign\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23905,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/govt-unveils-new-conditions-for-factory-converted-dorms\/","url_meta":{"origin":84484,"position":3},"title":"Govt unveils new conditions for factory-converted dorms","date":"August 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Operators will soon have to provide Wi-Fi and personal lockers in factory-converted dormitories, as part of new conditions to improve the housing standards of foreign workers. With effect from 1 January 2017, all operators of factory-converted dormitories (FCDs) must meet four new conditions when seeking approval to use their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":115162,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/malaysia-lockdown-mom-will-not-extend-temporary-housing-support-for-malaysian-workers\/","url_meta":{"origin":84484,"position":4},"title":"Malaysia lockdown: MOM will not extend temporary housing support for Malaysian workers","date":"March 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said it will not extend the temporary housing support it provided to Malaysian workers beyond 31 March, despite Malaysia extending the lockdown to 14 April.\u00a0 With Malaysia extending its national lockdown until 14 April, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said it will not extend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":123932,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/foreign-worker-levy-rebates-waiver-for-some-employers-extended-until-march-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":84484,"position":5},"title":"Foreign worker levy rebates, waiver for some employers extended until March 2022","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r About 15,000 firms will benefit from the foreign worker levy rebates\u00a0which have been extended until March 2022. Some of the employers in Singapore will have a reason to cheer as foreign worker levy rebates and waivers are extended into next year amid the continuing effects of the pandemic. 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