‘RECRUITING AFRICAN WORKERS JUST A PROPOSAL’
Govt has yet to decide, says Dr M
PRIME Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government’s plan to take foreign workers from Africa to cater to the requirement of the plantation sector was still at the proposal stage.
“I am of the opinion that there are many people in Malaysia but Malaysians do not want to work, so we give everything to others.
“On the proposal, we have not made any option, it was merely a suggestion,” he said.
Dr Mahathir, who is also member of parliament for Langkawi, said this after attending a Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house for the Langkawi parliamentary constituency at the Sports Complex of the Langkawi Development Authority.
Present were his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Ayer Hangat assemblyman Juhari Bulat and Kuah assemblyman Mohd Firdaus Ahmad.
On Friday, Human Resources
Minister M. Kula Segaran said the government was considering taking foreign workers from African countries to meet the labour shortage in the plantation sector as foreign workers from Vietnam and Indonesia were no longer interested to work here as the salary received was no different from the country of origin.
Dr Mahathir also said the government would prepare a plan so that residents at the Bukit Malut squatter settlement here would be placed in more proper housing.
“We know that they are not local residents, they came from other places and had no house, so they built their own houses.
“These squatter houses are not nice, so we will draft a plan to place them in better homes.
“The deputy prime minister (Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) had also issued a statement. We will follow up by having a plan to organise them so that they will stay in more proper housing,” he said.
At the event, Dr Mahathir gave out Hari Raya cash contributions.
About 10,000 residents from around Langkawi attended the event.