PUTRAJAYA – The government is prepared to receive the entry of over 300,000 migrant workers in stages over the coming months, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Tasks) Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad.
In ensuring the welfare and security of this group of workers, Latiff said, it is imperative that the government has an organised screening system that includes Covid-19 testing and placement of workers during their seven-day quarantine period upon arrival.
The Mersing MP announced that a subsidiary of Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd, eMedAsia, has been selected to work alongside the National Disaster Management Agency’s (Nadma) National Security and Safety for Foreign Workers’ Recruitment and Quarantine Management programme for this purpose.
“Migrant workers entering the country will be managed in an orderly manner to ensure their safety, security, and health.
“We welcome the workers’ commitment as Nadma is the regulator and we want to make sure that the quarantine process and the tests are regulated,” he said in a press conference after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Nadma and eMedAsia.
Elaborating further, he assured that no monopoly was involved in the choice of eMedAsia as Nadma’s partner to provide end-to-end Covid-19 screenings for migrant workers.
“Many parties were involved. They are a network of doctors from MMA (Malaysian Medical Association) who have come together to form a co-op, and they have their own platform.
“They have the expertise to provide services in accordance with the National Security Council’s standard operating procedures.”
In addition, he said migrant workers coming in from several countries will be placed in 400 hotels nationwide during the mandatory quarantine period.
On December 10 last year, the cabinet agreed on the hiring of migrant workers for the permitted sectors.
On December 19, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan announced that Malaysia had signed an MoU with Bangladesh on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, effective for five years until December 2026.
Additionally, Saravanan also said the MoU on the recruitment and placement of Indonesian domestic workers to be signed by Malaysia and Indonesia has been postponed to April 1.
He said the signing ceremony, which was scheduled to be held in Jakarta last Friday (March 18), was postponed to allow leaders from both countries to attend and witness the ceremony.
As of March 16, Saravanan said, a total of 313,014 applications from employers in several sectors to hire migrant workers have been received and being processed in stages.
The applications received since February 15 until March 16 involve the manufacturing sector (193,346), services (48,119), plantations (36,950), construction (27,331), agriculture (7,248), and mining and quarrying (20). – The Vibes, March 22, 2022
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