MIRI – Health teams carrying out Covid-19 screening at the RM8 billion Baleh Hydroelectric Dam project site in central Sarawak have stumbled upon dozens of illegal foreign workers.
Sarawak Public Utilities Minister Datuk Stephen Rundi Utom said at least 60 illegal workers have been uncovered following the identification of the Putai cluster, involving some 300 workers.
“The project site has been placed under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) following the outbreak announced two days ago by the state Disaster Management Committee (DMC).
“Health teams are at the site doing health screenings on the workers.
“There are illegal workers there, at least 60 so far.
“We are in the process of investigating the presence of these illegals.
“Action will be taken against the contractors or subcontractors found hiring these illegals,” he said in statement.
The 1,285-megawatt Baleh dam project currently under construction is owned by Sarawak Energy Bhd.
The main contractor is from China and handles the building of the 190m-high dam spanning across the Baleh River located deep in the Belaga district.
Rundi said the state authorities cannot condone the use of illegals as workers, especially during the pandemic.
Risky move
On March 5, the Baram People’s Action Committee (BPAC) expressed alarm over the move by the Sarawak government to reopen the state’s borders to foreign workers.
According to the NGO, reopening the state’s borders to foreign workers during the pandemic would lead to more coronavirus infections in Sarawak.
BPAC chairman Philip Jau told The Vibes that Sarawak government leaders seem to have forgotten that neighbouring countries, like Indonesia and Philippines, have also logged high Covid-19 figures, similar to Sarawak.
“Sarawak gets most of its foreign workers from Indonesia and Philippines.
“This can be seen in the plantation, logging, housing and road construction sector, as well as industrial construction sectors statewide.
“The latest move allowing up to 27,000 foreign workers to enter Sarawak is risky.
“Will Sarawak be able to thoroughly screen these new foreign workers and make sure they are free of the virus?
“Already, we have at least 200,000 foreign workers throughout Sarawak who have not even undergone Covid-19 screening and testing yet,” he said.
State DMC chairman Datuk Dougglas Uggah had on March 3 said the state government decided to allow foreign workers in due to the high demand from private companies.
“There are applications for 27,000 foreign workers by the plantation, construction, heavy industrial, services and food sectors, like restaurants.
“We are allowing foreign workers to enter starting March 1 but they must follow all SOPs strictly,” he had said.
On this, Jau demanded to know how Uggah plans to guarantee that the companies employing foreign workers will follow all SOPs strictly.
“As we all know, there are thousands of Indonesian migrant workers who have entered Sarawak through the many ‘jalan tikus’ illegal entry points along our 1,000km border with Kalimantan.
“Many of these illegals already work in Sarawak’s rural areas.
“The state government should locate these illegal migrants first and screen them, not open the floodgates for more foreign workers to enter.” – The Vibes, April 29, 2021
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