PUTRAJAYA: As a preparation to receive more than 300,000 foreign workers in stages, the government in collaboration with the private sector has taken steps to create a safe ecosystem and ensure that their arrivals are handled in an orderly manner.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Functions) Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad said the ecosystem, among others, involved the cooperation of those who conducted health screening tests and hotels that would be used as quarantine centres for the foreign workers.

The partnership agreement for the recruitment and quarantine management between eMedAsia and a panel of hotels that would be used as the foreign workers' quarantine centres, was signed here, today.

"We need to do the necessary preparations to ensure the arrivals of the foreign workers are managed in an orderly manner," he told a press conference after the signing ceremony of the partnerhip agreement.

Dr Abd Latiff also reminded the quarantine hotels to always comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the government as well as provisions under the Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990.

According to him, eMedAsia, a joint venture company between the Malaysian Medical Association Cooperative (KOOP MMA) and HS Bio Sdn Bhd, which has access to almost 3,000 clinics with 14,000 doctors nationwide would ensure a smooth implementation of the screening process for the foreign workers.

-- BERNAMA