Labuan jobless must apply to EIS to temporarily survive

LABUAN: People who have been jobless this year especially in the oil and gas sector must apply to the employment insurance scheme ( EIS) for financial assistance to temporarily make ends meet.

Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran said the government was aware that thousands of people who had served in the oil and gas industry in Labuan have been left jobless after the slowing down of the sector.

“As soon as they got retrenched or laid off, they must register with the EIS for financial assistance on monthly basis,” he said after a dialogue with Industrial Training Institute ( ITI) here yesterday.

The EIS took effect last Jan 1 following the passing of the EIS Act 2017 in parliament. Under the Act, employers and employees are each required to contribute between five sen and RM7.90 monthly.

Kulasegaran said the EIS which is run by Social Security Organisation (Socso) would help those retrenched to undergo training and re-skilling exercise and getting them jobs.

“This system is beneficial and has been successful in many countries like in UK and Australia” he said.

On a different note, he said, his ministry was trying to obtain a fund of RM3 million for infrastructure and repair jobs on ITI Labuan building.

“I was told the ITI hostel building is not useable due to cracks on certain part of the building and this could be due to the early construction of the building that we will investigate” he said.

Kulasegaran said the Technical and Vocational Education and Training ( TVET) is still relevant for the workforce in the various sectors nationwide.

He urged all technical and skills institution in the country to be financially dependent with involvement in the public private partnership ( PPP). — Bernama