1.5 mln Bangladesh workers ‘worrying’
ar Bersatu Sabah assistant secretary general Datuk "erbert agadan has e #ressed his disa##ointment with the federal governments decision to bring in 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh.
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) assistant secretary general Datuk Herbert Lagadan has expressed his disappointment with the federal government’s decision to bring in 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh.
Herbert said the decision by the federal government was very worrying to most Sabahans and added, “Our bitter experience with foreigners residing here in Sabah all these years must be sufficient reasons to disagree with the federal government’s move to allow the Bangladesh workforce to come to Malaysia”.
PBS, he stressed, must make its stands on this issue as the party cannot afford to be silent if PBS’ existence is to be relevant with the people of Sabah.
“PBS must not allow itself to be taken for granted on this issue. PBS must stand on the side of the people’s wish and not with the unpopular decision of the federal government,” he stressed.
Herbert was also of the opinion that it is shameful that the government has to tell the people that it was the industries that requested the foreign workers and not government policy (to bring the workers in).
In a statement yesterday, Herbert said such reasoning was purely an admission that the Barisan Nasional government was weak and incapable of making good and sound policy decision to the point of it being dictated by the industries.
He added that the federal government should have the courtesy to ask PBS for its opinion and stand on this matter.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said last week that the government would bring in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers over the next three years for employment in the country which was heavily reliant on foreign labourers, a move questioned by some groups which warned that it would adversely affect the local workers and the economy.
He said that government was only giving in to market and employers’ demands and that companies could not operate as they did not have enough workers.
“Malaysians do not want to work in their companies. The ones who work with them do not last long, forcing these companies to close down,” he said.
Various groups in Malaysia have, however, questioned the government’s decision to bring in the 1.5 million Bangladeshis, given that a large number of workers in the country remained undocumented.