Bosses: It will have a negative impact on economy

GEORGE TOWN:

Representatives of various industries warned that requiring employers to pay the levy for foreign workers from Jan 1 will have a negative impact on the Malaysian economy.

“There is going to be a lot of hue and cry if we increase the prices of food, as the charges would definitely be passed on to consumers,” said Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association (Primas) deputy president J. Suresh.

“Local workers are definitely not going to replace the foreigners and we do not have any system in place to reduce the present workers,” he said yesterday.

Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association ( Presma) Penang chairman Noor Mohamed Abdullah said the Government should have engaged the stakeholders first, saying that such a unilateral move would affect industries.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers Penang chairman Datuk Dr Ooi Eng Hock said there were three million legal foreign workers in the country and the move would put a major strain on operating expenditure.

In IPOh, Cameron Highlands Malay Farmers Association chairman Datuk Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Abdul Rashid said the Government should consider splitting the levy payment between the employee and the employer.

“It would be better for the cost to be shared between the employer and employee; the employers pay 50% of the levy and the foreign workers themselves pay the remaining half,” he said.

“It will be tough for the employers if they have between 20 and 30 workers. To come out with one lump sum, they will need to pay between RM20,000 and RM50,000 just to renew their permits.”

In JOhOR BARu, Johor South SME Association founding president Teh Kee Sin said operating costs will rise.

It would eventually weaken the country’s competitiveness and also discourage foreigners from investing in Malaysia, he said.

“Manufacturers might relocate to other countries in the region with lower operating costs,” he said.

Teh said employers are still dependent on foreign workers as Malaysians are not interested in such jobs.

If the Government insists on implementing it on Jan 1, he said it might force companies, especially SMEs, to hire illegal workers to cut costs.

Johor Baru Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Datuk Loh Liam Hiang said certain sectors, such as fruit and vegetable farming, plantation and manufacturing, are still dependent on manual labour.

“Farmers need workers to harvest vegetables or pluck fruit,” he said.

He said many businesses in Johor Baru have problems hiring Malaysians as many graduates and school-leavers prefer to work in Singapore.