Singapore  - Singapore's Manpower Ministry ordered a local company to settle all outstanding wages of 180 Bangladeshi construction workers who have been left out of work, and at times without meals and proper living facilities, news reports said Tuesday.

The ministry has directed Tipper Corp to pay the workers within the next two weeks, the Straits Times reported, citing the company's spokesman.

The ministry has also told Tipper that the workers would either be repatriated or transferred to other employers. Tipper has been under investigation for illegal deployment of foreign workers, as well as for the failure to pay salaries to the workers.

Singapore's construction and services sectors depends on hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, but the recent economic slowdown's impact has left a growing number of workers without jobs. (dpa)