Call for temporary residency to enable illegals to work

ELOPURA assemblyman Calvin Chong has proposed granting temporary residency to illegal immigrants (PTI) in order for them to work in Sabah in view of the high cost of importing foreign workers.

He said employing foreign workers from Indonesia and Philippines could cost well over RM2,000 for the employers.

“By giving temporary residency to PTI, we can reduce the cost of importing foreign workers,” he said, when debating the State Budget 2019 at the State Legislative Assembly sitting here yesterday.

He said doing so could also reduce crime rates among the illegal immigrants as they could earn a living.

Chong added that employers could also afford to employ more workers with lower labour cost, which would benefit the construction, oil palm plantation and manufacturing industries.

Chong stressed that his proposal was not about issuing citizenship to the PTI, nor does he agree with PTI becoming Malaysian citizens.

On another note, Chong emphasized the need to develop the palm oil downstream industry to spur the economy of the State and create more job opportunities for locals.

He said the major palm oil companies, such as Borneo Samudera and Sawit Kinabalu, could be the pioneers to venture into the downstream industry like oleo-chemical.

Doing so, he said, would ensure Sabahans enjoyed cheaper goods made locally.

Chong also encouraged palm oil mills to generate power from biogas or biomass.

“If each of the 120 palm oil mills in Sabah generates five megawatts (MW) of power, we will have 600 MW of power in total,” he reasoned.

He said the cost of power generation from biogas or biomass would be lower than that of diesel.

Meanwhile, Chong stressed on the need for hydropower to provide uninterrupted electricity supply in Sabah. He said this form of renewable energy would save costs and reduce environmental pollution.