An opposition lawmaker has urged Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to respond to an Al Jazeera documentary on the exploitation of migrant workers in Malaysia, which accused the immigration department and three Umno-linked businessmen of graft.

Klang MP Charles Santiago claimed that public records revealed that one of the companies implicated was linked to an individual who once worked for Zahid.

"This is a clear case of conflict of interest and also abuse of power by Zahid (who is also home minister).

"It raises questions as to whether the home minister who has absolute control of the immigration authorities would have used his influence to award the project to his former key aide," he asked in a statement today.

Santiago urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to act on the allegations raised in the documentary.

Purported Umno link

The DAP MP was referring to the July 20 episode of Al Jazeera's 101 East programme, titled "Malaysia's Migrant Money Trail".

This episode was not aired on Malaysia's Al Jazeera broadcast but is accessible online.

The documentary portrayed the importation of foreign workers as a lucrative business. Three companies were named as agents which employers must use in order to import foreign labourers.

"To keep track of (undocumented workers), the government allowed employers to register and rehire them legally.

"The government appointed three companies, employers must consult to legalise their workers. All three companies are headed by senior members of Malaysia's ruling political party - Umno.

"They were awarded government contracts without an open tender process," narrated documentary producer Chan Tau Chou.

Chan narrated that Malaysia's authorities refused to respond to repeated attempts for comments on any of the allegations raised in the documentary.

Malaysiakini is unable to independently verify the claims contained in the documentary and is contacting Zahid's aide for comment with regard to Santiago's allegation.

Zahid: That's old news

After the documentary was aired, Zahid told Parliament last month that the documentary was unfair and portrayed Malaysia in a bad light.

He claimed that the footage used for the documentary was six months old and the allegations were no longer valid following the introduction of an online system to register foreign workers.

"This means that the issue no longer arises," he said in a reply to a question posed by opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Similarly, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said that the allegations in the documentary had been overtaken by events.

He also questioned the authenticity of letters depicted in the documentary, which allegedly showed that there were government officials conniving with unscrupulous labour agents