‘Specific SOPs needed to address expected influx of foreign workers’
KUCHING: Specific standard operating procedures (SOPs) for managing foreign workers at points of entry (PoE) would be necessary as their numbers might be higher than other travellers, said Datuk Gerawat Gala.
In this regard, the Deputy Minister in the Premier of Sarawak’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) pointed out that in order to better understand the situation, a simulation study might need to be carried out in the immediate future with the participation of all relevant stakeholders.
He highlighted this during an engagement session earlier this week with the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) on foreign worker recruitment issues.
Gerawat clarified that international travellers, including foreign workers who had completed vaccination and tested negative for Covid-19 at the PoE, would not have to undergo quarantine.
However, those who had incomplete vaccination or tested positive at the PoE would be issued a Home Surveillance Order (HSO).
“It is important for employers to arrange representatives to receive and manage their workers upon their arrival at the PoE.
“On top of that, transportation services to send workers to their workplace or designated quarantine centre, is the responsibility of the employer,” he said.
Gerawat further stated that the operation of quarantine centres must obtain approval from both the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Labour Department.
“However, for those quarantine centres situated in plantations that have obtained approval from MoH only prior to the latest ruling, are allowed to operate,” he added.
The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has published a series of Covid-19 related SOPs as a guideline to enter Sarawak, including issues related to documentation and entry status for non-Malaysians, particularly foreign workers.
The engagement session requested by Soppoa was in response to the reopening of international borders by the Malaysian government, which might have implications on the recruitment of foreign workers.
According to Soppoa, the present process for foreignworker recruitment is ‘tedious and time-consuming’ as a single application for recruiting a foreign worker may take from six to eight months.
In response, Gerawat said he had seconded Labour and Immigration officers in charge of data-entry and processing of foreign worker recruitment to be based at the department so that the entire process would work seamlessly and cut red tapes to improve efficiency.
“With such an arrangement, I am confident that all the processing times taken in current practice are able to be improved dramatically. For example, an application for Letter of Approval in Principle (AP) that would normally take up to two to three months, could be reduced to not more than one and a half months.
“Similarly, application for new labour licence that takes one month, to be shortened to seven days, whereas Calling Visa from two to four months to 30 days,” he said, adding that there would be progressive improvement over time.
In his opening remarks, Soppoa chairman Eric Kiu Kwong Seng said oil palm plantations had always faced labour shortages as the work was labour-intensive, and the matter got worse during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period as no foreign workers were allowed to enter the state for employment.
“Soppoa’s member companies faced critical shortage of workers at the time and almost all plantation companies were operating at half of normal capacity.
“Despite the announcement of reopening of borders, Sarawak oil palm plantations are not experiencing inbound foreign workers because of the continued reluctance of the Indonesian government to allow its citizens to seek employment in Malaysia,” he said.
Kiu extended his utmost appreciation to Gerawat for accepting Soppoa’s request to discuss and enlighten its members on issues related to foreign worker recruitment, especially after the opening of international borders on April 1.
“The Sarawak government has been helpful in many aspects when it comes to assisting the industry during these challenging times,” he said.