Real-life action drama occurs at construction site

KEPALA BATAS: Pandemonium broke out with over 60 foreign workers running helter-skelter when a team of enforcement officers raided a housing construction site in Bertam Perdana near here.

The incident had officers chasing after workers, with some of the workers being pinned down in muddy terrain nearby before being handcuffed and rounded up at the premises.

North Seberang Prai district district chief Asst Comm Noorzainy Mohd Noor said 31 foreign workers in their 20s to 40s were arrested but added that he believed about 30 others escaped.

The workers, from countries such as Myanmar and Bangladesh, were rounded up at the development site where multiple violations of the movement control order had allegedly occurred.

He said the contractor was slapped with fines totalling RM55,000 and the site ordered shut for a week.

“Under Act 342 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, we found that the employer had failed to ensure workers wore face masks, are registered with MySejahtera, had recorded their body temperature or practised sufficient physical distancing at work.

“This is the basic standard operating procedure but it was not implemented. As the workers have not undergone swab tests, a RM25,000 fine under Rule 14 of the Act was issued, while for the SOP violations, the employer was served with a RM10,000 fine under Rule 16 of the Act, ” he said yesterday.

It didn’t take long for checks to be done at the site in Mukim 6 which is classified a Covid-19 red zone.ACP Noorzainy added that some of the workers were found to be United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card holders but this did not provide them with a formal right to work in the country.

Those arrested were later taken to a nearby police station to be investigated for other offences by police and the Immigration Department.

Officials from the Health Ministry, Seberang Prai City Council (MBSP) and Labour Department were also present in the joint operation.

“The Health Ministry ordered the site to be shut for a week.

“After finding a food stall within the site built illegally and operating unlicensed, MBSP seized items from there and will proceed with further legal action, ” said ACP Noorzainy.

Labour Department senior assistant director Syerin Erna Majid said a RM20,000 fine was issued under Act 446 (Amendment) 2019 on Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities after three blocks of workers’ dormitories were found to have been built without permit.