Sarawak eyes Timorese workers as migrant labour shortage worsens

MIRI – Sarawak is looking towards Timor-Leste (East Timor) as a new source of migrant workers as Indonesians become largely reluctant to come to Malaysia due to better opportunities in their home country, especially in light of the development of Nusantara.

This idea surfaced following the worsening of the migrant worker shortage, which has reached a critical level in this state, said the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association today.

Its chief executive officer Felix Moh said the association had a meeting with state secretary Datuk Seri Mohamad Bakar Marzuki on this issue.

“The proposal to source foreign workers from new sources in other countries aside from Indonesia was made because the worker shortage in the plantations has reached a critical stage.

“We are looking at Timor-Leste and the state government seems receptive to this,” he said.

“Workers from Timor-Leste are culturally similar to the Indonesians.”

Moh stressed that many Indonesians are no longer seeking to cross the border for work, as they are looking at Nusantara in Kalimantan – where their country is developing its new capital city – for jobs.

“Their new capital Nusantara in Kalimantan needs one million workers as the construction picks up pace,” he said in a press statement.

Moh expressed hope that the process of hiring and approving work permits for Timor-Leste workers can be hastened and made easier.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg had said on August 11 that the big agriculture plantations, and infrastructure and housing construction industries in Sarawak are already facing serious shortages of workers as the workers are no longer coming en masse.

He warned that the situation will get worse if a solution is not found.

“We can no longer rely on foreign workers from Indonesia,” Abang Johari said. 

“They are no longer coming into Sarawak in big numbers as required by our major economic sectors.” 

Besides the plantation firms, the construction industry is also facing similar worries on labour needs.

The state will need to focus on automation and robotics aggressively to reduce dependency on labourers, he said.

Recently, Bintulu MP and Dudong state assemblyman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing had urged Sarawakians to take up the many employment opportunities mushrooming again all over the state in this post-pandemic period. – The Vibes, August 21, 2022