‘Lack of federal-state coordination delaying recruitment of foreign workers’

KUCHING: The federal and state governments have been urged to enhance coordination in expediting the application process for the recruitment of foreign labour to address worker shortage in Sarawak.

Kuching Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCGCCI) said the state has in recent years been facing a severe shortage of workers which has impacted the development of various sectors including construction and agriculture, particularly oil palm plantation and livestock breeding.

“While they (sectors) are in need of foreign labour, they face a delay in being granted an approval of their application for foreign workers due to a lack of coordination between the federal government and the state government,” it said, in a resolution passed during the Federation of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions Chinese Association’s annual general meeting held via Zoom yesterday.

In another resolution, KCGCCI called upon the Sarawak government to consider identifying a more appropriate location to set up a new port to give a boost to the commerce industry.

It pointed out that the current Senari Port in Pending here is in a dire need of an upgrade, such as installation of new cranes, to provide better services to all those involved.

“The facilities at Senari Port are outdated and inadequate and this has to a certain extent affected the operations of the port. On top of that, the watercourse at the port is not deep enough to accommodate larger vessels,” it said.

KCGCCI also appealed to the shipping companies and agents to be more transparent in their charges.

It said this is aimed at protecting the interest of not just importers and exporters but also consumers at large.

“At present, the shipping companies and agents in Sarawak have imposed high charges, some of which are double charges, on importers and exporters,” said KCGCCI.