‘Wait and see’ - Guan Eng on Saravanan’s migrant worker promises

Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng is open to giving Human Resources Minister M Saravanan time to resolve issues in the migrant workers’ recruitment process.

This comes after a special briefing held at the Human Resources Ministry in Putrajaya today, where both leaders discussed the ongoing issue of migrant workers’ shortage in the country.

“What we want to see is if there is progress in terms of finding a solution. I’m not here to score political points.

“We want solutions. Whether it works or not we have to wait and see,” Lim said.

Also at the briefing were Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham and Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran. The latter was a former human resources minister.

Speaking to the press after the briefing, Lim said he attended it to find solutions affecting employers who are struggling with the foreign labour shortage.

This is especially affecting those in the agricultural, manufacturing and construction industry, of which he said impacted the country’s economic progress.

However, Lim said Saravanan had admitted there were issues with the recruitment of migrant workers, particularly with the decentralisation of the application process.

“Earlier, the minister admitted to problems (with the recruitment process) and agreed to our suggestion to have a One Stop Centre - to address these matters if employers have issues with approvals (of their applications), or after approvals,” he said.

During the briefing attended by media personnel, Ngeh said it was difficult for employers from across the country to be physically present at the Human Resources Ministry in Putrajaya to resolve issues related to their application process, including small matters like updating telephone numbers and employers’ addresses.

All three DAP MPs raised reasons they believed surrounded the issue of migrant work shortage.

Yesterday, Saravanan assured the Dewan Rakyat that existing workers plus new arrivals will raise the total number of migrants employed here to 2.1 million within the next one or two months.

This is a figure higher than pre-pandemic times of around 1.8 million workers.

He said that as of yesterday (Oct 4), 647,011 people were still going through biometric and medical check-ups in their respective source countries and that a total of 246,859 have had their e-Visa with Reference (VDR) applications approved.

Saravanan added that 144,676 foreign workers have successfully arrived in the country since the reopening of international borders in April.

However, Lim said the role of the ministry shouldn’t end with just giving approvals.

“There’s no point in giving approvals when no one is coming in. Your (Human Resources Ministry) role should be more than that,” he said.

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