Ministries agree to agency's proposal to manage entry of foreign construction workers - Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry have agreed to a proposal from Construction Labor Exchange Berhad to enable the agency to fully manage the entry of foreign construction workers involving more than 100 individuals.

"This is in line with Act 520, such as ensuring employees have a CIDB Construction Personnel Card and a Construction Skills Competency Certificate," Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said after the seventh Joint Committee Meeting of the Home Minister and the Minister of Human Resources on the management of foreign workers.

He said the meeting also agreed to consider applications for short-term permits for foreign workers to carry out infrastructure construction works and works in prohibited areas and places.

"In the past, we did not allow foreign workers in these areas, but in the short term, there are special projects for us to get them from outside to help with the work. Today, we have allowed it with certain standard operating procedures that we will issue," he said in a special joint press conference with the Ministry of Human Resources in Bukit Aman, here, today.

Minister of Human Resources Datuk Seri M. Saravanan was also present.

He said the meeting also agreed that any application for foreign workers in prohibited areas and places in the future would be decided by the Home Ministry.

According to Hamzah, the meeting also agreed to approve the application for the employment of foreign workers in the swiftlet nest industry by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.

Apart from that, Hamzah said the meeting also agreed to allow foreign workers to be employed in the scrap items and laundry sub-sectors.

"Among other things, we also agreed to allow foreign workers from all 15 source countries to work in the manufacturing, construction and services sectors.

"We also agreed on looking at the appropriateness of allowing foreign workers in all sectors, including the sub-sectors that have been frozen," he said.

Meanwhile, Hamzah said the meeting also agreed for the Human Resources Ministry and the Immigration Department to hold immediate discussions with Indonesia to resolve the problem of hiring foreign workers from the country.

Apart from that, he said based on a study conducted by the Institute of Labor Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA), the meeting had agreed to allow low-skilled foreign labour in the port warehouse sub-sector.

He said, however, control elements were still required to ensure that the decision did not affect employment opportunities for locals, adding that the employment of foreigners in the sub-sector would be regulated by the Ministry of Transport.

"I would also like to remind everyone that the government will always ensure that the management of foreign workers in Malaysia is always based on the rule of law and ensure that all foreign workers in Malaysia are given fair protection," he said.

-- BERNAMA