By Olivia Miwil - January 9, 2022 @ 1:34pm
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Employers Association (SEA) has urged the government for a solution over their manpower needs which it claimed was worsening.
Its secretary-general Fong Ming San said the situation turned dire in March 2020 after the country closed its borders to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Foreign workers with expired permits returned to home and were subsequently unable to return to Malaysia. At the same time, the government froze the intake of new foreign workers.
"Several lockdowns were imposed, shutting down economic activities during the first Movement Control Orders (MCO 1.0) and allowing operations with limited capacity during the subsequent lockdowns.
"With the eventual open of economic activities, the need to address foreign worker shortage was of utmost priority in industries much-maligned with 3D work (difficult, dirty and demanding) which locals shun," he said in a statement.w
Fong, representing SEA, Sabah Timber Industries Association (STIA), Timber Association of Sabah, Sabah Furniture Association, SME Association of Sabah, and The East Malaysia Planters' Association, appealed and presented recommendations via a memorandum to the state government to assist them in the matter.
Among the recommendations were opening borders to allow industries to recruit workers from the Philippines and Indonesia.
They also urged for the implementation of another round of amnesty/regularisation programme for the estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants in the State.
Other proposals were to allow applications for foreign workers quota to be carried out immediately, including automatic renewal of unused quota approved pre pandemic and latest guidelines for application of foreign workers employment.
The associations also called to reduce the foreign workers levy of RM6,000 (manufacturing, construction and services sectors) for those who have worked 11 years and above, and work pass renewals for those who could not do so due to Covid-19 movement controls.
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