Singapore  - The Singapore government has set up a task force to check malpractice by employers of foreign workers, a Channel News Asia report said Thursday.

Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said the task force, set up in January, is to detect malpractice such as failure to pay workers' salaries on time.

The unit was to consolidate and analyse information surfaced from Manpower Ministry's inspections as well as intelligence it receives.

The ministry has detected 43 companies with salary arrears since the beginning of this year, the report said. Five of them have been prosecuted and nine were under investigation.

Another 147 companies were told to relocate 2,600 foreign workers who were found to be accommodated in sub-standard houses or illegal premises.

Singapore depends heavily on Asian workers and the government has been concerned about rising cases mistreatment or them being left without accommodation and salaries as the global downturn has hit the city-state. (dpa)