‘Govt must stop acting blindly and stubbornly’

PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng should have engaged industry players and businesses to seek for a common ground before rolling out new policies, says MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“Less than 48 hours after announcing the 80/20 formula for the foreign worker levy, Lim is now back-pedalling on his decision,” Dr Wee said in a statement posted on Facebook yesterday.

“The government must stop acting blindly and stubbornly, or the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the people will have the bear the brunt of it all,” he said, responding to the government’s announcement to revert to its initial plan for employers to pay the full RM10,000 levy due for an extension of employment for skilled foreign workers.

Dr Wee added that the government should not make public announcements before hashing out the details internally and coordinating the policies among all related ministries and departments.

“Lim’s sudden U-turn on this levy issue has proven the lack of coordination within the government.

“The habit of making frequent and unexpected changes is inappropriate and will only make business owners anxious and nervous.

“This kind of unprofessional manner shows that the government is not sincere in caring for the businesses and the rakyat,” he said.

On Tuesday, Lim said employers would have to pay the entire RM10,000 instead of having the skilled worker pay the bulk of it as originally planned.

A day earlier on Monday, the government announced that foreign workers who have worked in the country for more than 10 years would have to pay 80% of the levy, amounting to RM8,000, with employers bearing the remaining 20% for a three-year extension.