Singapore  - The Singapore government is prosecuting a local company for not paying its foreign workers on time and providing them with inadequate accommodation, a news report said on Monday.

The Manpower Ministry said it would be prosecuting marine barge builder Tipper Corporation for irregularities involving the salaries of 421 foreign workers, mostly Bangladeshis.

Four other companies are facing similar charges relating to foreign workers' wages, proper accommodations and medical care.

The foreign workers have been given an option to return to their own countries or be placed on a list of foreign workers available for hiring by other companies, according to the report in the Straits Times.

The five companies, including Tipper, have been barred from hiring new foreign workers.

Directors of companies found to have breached the foreign workers' worker permit regulations face six months to 12 months in jail and/or a fine of 5,000-15,000 Singapore dollars (3,350-10,050 US dollars).

The ministry has been cracking down on foreign workers' employers following reports that a growing number of these workers were not being paid, while being housed in poor-standard accommodations, and at times without proper meals and medical care.

Singapore's construction, marine and service sectors depend on hundreds of thousands Asian workers but the ongoing economic slowdown has affected some of the companies' businesses, leaving the foreigners without jobs. (dpa)