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| HKUEA officers call on govt to provide quarantine facility for arriving FDHs |
The call was made today, June 14, by officers of
the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies in a press conference in Causeway Bay
Thomas Chan, HKUEA chairman and general manager
of Bright International Services, said the press conference was the launch of a
series of activities the union would be making to urge the government to
provide such centralized quarantine facilities for FDHs.
He said Hong Kong families are not comfortable
letting their newly arrived domestic helpers, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia
Gilbert Ho, HKUEA committee member and owner of
The Helper Employment Agency Ltd, said
an overwhelming majority of the employers is reluctant to welcome the new
arrivals in their homes due to the risk
of getting infected if a worker carries the coronavirus.
“Ninety-five percent of the Hong
Kong employers are worried about sharing a room 30 to 35 square
feet with (newly arrived) domestic workers. And over 50,000 employers are
hiring workers because of the elderly and children they have to look after,” Ho
said.
At present, newly arrived workers either go into
quarantine in their employers’ homes or in hotels that charge rates of $3,000
to $5,000 for a 14-day stay. The employers willingly bear the costs of the
hotel quarantine of their workers, Ho said.
He said some hotels provide meals but others
don’t. In the latter case, the employers are required to provide food for the quarantined
worker, Ho said.
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| Ho (left) and Chan say HK families are reluctant to take in FDHs during the quarantine period |
Speaking to The SUN after the media briefing,
Chan the union has not yet set a meeting with the Labour Department to submit
their proposal. He said the press conference was held mainly to get the plan
publicized.
Aside from the press conference, the union is
holding meetings with members of Legislative Council committees to get
legislative support for their proposal, he said. Meetings with employers are
also scheduled, he said.
He said the HKUEA’s main purpose is not how to
deal with the domestic helpers’ arrival problem but the bigger problem that it
perceives would arise from the current quarantine arrangement.
Chan said the proposed centralized quarantine
center should be located far from populous areas of the city to avoid the risk
of a contagion in the locality in case anyone among the new arrivals has the
virus.
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| Agencies say ideally, quarantine centers for FDHs should be like the Lady Maclehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung |
He said the union still has no particular
location in mind for the centralized quarantine center, but is looking at something
like the government holiday lodges, two of which have already been used for
this purpose.
However, his fear does not seem well-founded
because many quarantined new arrivals, whether FDHs or returning residents,
have been housed in hotels or hostels all over the city with no apparent problem.
Also, everyone arriving in Hong
Kong is now tested right at the airport, and all those found
infected are immediately taken to hospitals for isolation and treatment. Thus,
the risk of community contamination has been reduced significantly.
