Bestinet, the firm owned by former home affairs minister Azmi Khalid, denies that it is linked with Synerflux.

Synerflux was picked by the government to manage the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers to be recruited to Malaysia.

“Bestinet does not have any stake in Synerflux,” its customer management head Noremi Shaari told Malaysiakini in an e-mail.

Noremi said Synerflux director Nor Aliza Pungot is not an employee of Bestinet’s parent company, JR Joint Resources.

“Nor Aliza Pungot is not an employee of JR Joint Resources. She runs her own companies.

“However, JR Joint Resources and Bestinet engage and synergise with many parties in the areas of human resource and Internet technology systems, including Nor Aliza's company, on many business ventures of mutual benefit,” she said.

Malaysiakini reported that Bestinet, the services of which were suspended by the government following complaints arising from recruitment processes locally and abroad, is linked to Synerflux .

Nor Aliza has, on her Facebook page, identified herself as working at JR Joint Resources. She has since closed the page ( see screen capture ). Synerflux is also reported by Bangladeshi media as linked to Bestinet.

Bestinet was earlier appointed as the sole service provider for the foreign workers management system, but it was suspended due to complaints that it charged high fees.

Labour advocates condemn the appointment of such firms, arguing that the government already has sufficient resources, in-house, to manage foreign workers.

‘We can assist Synerflux’

Noremi added that Synerflux’s system is not the same as Bestinet’s, because Synerflux’s system is catered to Bangladeshi workers only.

“If Synerflux is given the award by the government, Bestinet can work with Synerflux to integrate (Bestinet’s) system with any other system and we can also develop new modules based on Synerflux requirements, if allowed to by the government,” she said.

Malaysiakini earlier reported that a firm belonging to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s brother was also eyeing the deal to manage the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers at a fee of about RM3,000 per worker, chargeable to the worker or his agent.

Zahid, in a written reply to Parliament last month, said the government selected Synerflux, and not his brother’s firm , for the job.

Zahid caused a stir in Dhaka last week when he postponed the inking of a much-awaited agreement between Bangladesh and Malaysia on the recruitment of the 1.5 million workers.

He told the Bangladeshi Ministry of Expatriats’ Welfare and Foreign Workers that the “selected Malaysian company’s proposal” must be included in the memorandum of understanding.

Synerflux and JR Joint Resources are yet to respond to Malaysiakini ’s request for comment.