Photo credit; AsiaOne
A 72-year-old man has been fined in Singapore for operating illegal dormitories.
Asiaone reports that Tan Hock Keng was fined $600,000 for converting 11 private residential properties into unauthorized dormitories. He then rented them out to migrant workers, with one of the units housing 23 workers.
Inspections between January 2016 and April 2018 revealed that Keng had carved multiple rooms in the residences. The migrant workers had to live in unhygienic conditions.
Officers from the Ministry of Manpower discovered a filthy environment. The Urban Redevelopment Authority said the number of occupants exceeded the authority’s occupancy cap rules.
“Unauthorized dormitory accommodation not only adversely affects the residential character of the neighbourhood, but also negatively impacts the occupants, who may be from more vulnerable groups that are susceptible to exploitation,” said Mr Martin Tan, the director of URA’s Development Control Group.
