(AFP) The government plans to reduce by half the number of registered Indonesian workers here to prevent a repeat of recent riots, an official said today.

Home ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat said there are currently some 900,000 Indonesian legal workers, who the government plans to cut down to about 450,000.

"The issue we are facing now is their numbers are too large ... if anything (happens) we cannot control them," he was quoted by Bernama .

The preventive measure runs alongside the government's announcement of a temporary ban on hiring new Indonesian workers, following the recent outbreak of riots.

Last Sunday, more than 70 Indonesian construction workers armed with machetes went on the rampage at Cyberjaya, just three days after some 400 Indonesian textile workers rioted at their factory over drug tests in Negeri Sembilan.

Aseh said the blacklisting of Indonesian workers, who would be placed as a last option for employment, also means replacing Indonesians with workers from other countries when their contracts expire.

"New (work) permits will be limited to cases where the employer cannot hire workers from another country while for Indonesians who have ended their contracts, employers have to replace them with workers from another country," he said.

"Those that want to apply, go ahead ... we put the (Indonesian) workers as a last option."

Daily deportation

Following the reduction, he said employers could now take in workers from Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam and Laos, while domestic help could now be hired from Sri Lanka.

Aseh was also quoted as saying additional depots for illegal immigrants would not be built as the government plans to hold deportation exercises daily.

"We have long started to send them home, and right now we are deporting them every day. We do not want to hold them for long as this is a burden. We have to pay for their meals and also their transportation costs," he said.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday he would not bow to appeals from Jakarta in reversing the temporary ban.

Mahathir said the country does not need to take in any more Indonesians as it already has a surplus of foreign workers.

"In fact, we have more than enough, what more with those entering the country illegally," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times .

Indonesian vice-president Hamzah Haz on Friday said his government would try to appeal against the ban.

"We need to approach Malaysia because it is our neighbour and work opportunities are great there," he said.