The Indonesian Embassy has hired a lawyer to look into the grievances of the 90 illegal Indonesian migrant workers who claim that their Malaysian employer has shortchanged them of their wages.

The counsel was engaged after the workers signed an authorisation letter for the embassy to hire a lawyer on their behalf. The letter was signed after the workers held a two-hour meeting with embassy officials at the latter's premises in Kuala Lumpur.

Lawyer Md Radzi Mustafa, when met at the embassy, said he would be taking up the case with Labour Department tomorrow.

"We hope we can settle the case at that level and not have go to the Industrial Court," he said .

Embassy third secretary Rizaldi Ishak ( photo ), who was present, said six of the workers would remain in the country to monitor developments in the case while the rest would return to Indonesia. The workers have to return before the Malaysian government's amnesty offer for all undocumented migrant workers expires next Monday.

"The six will be sheltered by the embassy until the case has been settled," said Rizaldi, adding that the embassy would ensure that all the workers affected would get the wages once the case was settled.

Under international law, the Malaysian government has no jurisdiction to arrest anyone inside embassy grounds.

Police investigations

The 90 workers, including several women, have accused subcontractor Sri Mega Jaya of not paying their balance of wages amounting to RM150,000 for work at a condominium project in Damansara Damai since last September.

The main contractor for the project is Plato Construction (M) Sdn Bhd which is wholly-owned by MK Land Holdings, a company listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia.

The workers had written a letter urging MK Land executive chairperson Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar to look into their plight. MK Land, in turn, has denied that they had employed any undocumented migrant workers.

Last week, the workers filed a police report against Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn after the latter made a statement that Sri Mega Jaya had given the wages for the 90 workers, which according to him amounted to RM500,000, to an intermediary who has since absconded.

The Indonesian ambassador later said that Fong's claim was still under investigation. The police yesterday said that they had wrapped up investigations into the workers' report and would be forwarding their findings to the higher authorities.