Plantation sector workers get good accommodation

PUTRAJAYA: Employers in the plantation sector get the thumbs up. But not manufacturing and construction companies.

Housing for workers provided by some companies in the manufacturing and construction sectors are found to be not conducive.

However, employers in the plantation sector got a pat on the back for providing good accommodation facilities for their workers.

This is the observation made by the Labour Department.

Its director-general Asri Ab Rahman described the living conditions of the workers in the two sectors as “far from satisfactory”.

While he did not reveal employers who failed to provide proper accommodation, Asri, however, named three companies which are providing good housing conditions for their workers.

Hartalega Holdings Bhd, he said, was exemplary in the glove manufacturing sector; Sime Darby Bhd in the plantation sector and Intel in the electrical and electronics sector.

These companies have been appointed as “industry champions” for other companies to emulate.

Asri said deplorable conditions need to be addressed to solve two concerns, preventing elements of forced labour and human trafficking in the country’s labour force due to unconducive living environment among workers.

“We also want to solve the other concern by ensuring that hostels or accommodations for workers are conducive so that these places will not be the cause for the spreading of diseases and infections,” he said.