MBAM urges govt to lift freeze on foreign worker intake

KUALA LUMPUR: The Master Builders Association Malaysia ( MBAM) has urged the government to immediately lift the suspension on the intake of foreign workers, especially for quota already approved prior to the order.

In a statement yesterday, the association also appealed that the freeze order on renewal of permits for foreign workers be lifted.

Its president, Matthew Tee, said the affected workers were at risk of being arrested and deported.

“The two orders had caused extreme difficulties for employers across industries, including construction industry.

“The contractors are already facing thinning profit margins and the shortage of manpower will affect their productivity and delay the project completion, causing them to pay penalties which will erode their profit margins further,” he said.

Tee said some smaller subcontractors could even go out of business in the medium to long term as they depended on larger contractors to finance the recruitment of foreign workers for them.

“Some contractors might also resort to employing illegal foreign workers to complete their projects on time and within budget, which will defeat the objective of the suspension which aims to control the number of foreign workers in the country,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced in February that the government had decided to suspend the recruitment of all foreign workers including from Bangladesh.

He had previously announced that the government would bring in 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh to cater to the needs of the industries in the country. — Bernama