KOTA KINABALU: Three Koreans were injured during a workers’ protest at a construction site at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park area on Saturday (April 15).
The incident, which was believed to have occurred at around 1.15pm, happened after a group of construction workers got upset when demanding for their delayed salary in view of the coming Hari Raya celebrations.
The incident that was caught on video and widely circulated on social media platforms, saw among others, several men shouting and slapping, punching and kicking the Koreans in separate clips.
The workers were asking the Koreans to contact their boss to settle the matter while in another clip, a man could be heard saying “please, please, please” many times while others were calling for “salary first” among other things.
Another person was heard saying that Hari Raya was around the corner and that they worked hard to earn a living.
"This is our celebration (Hari Raya). You don’t care, we work so hard and you guys keep pushing. We need to pay our rents etc," a man was heard saying.
Sabah Industrial Development minister Phoong Jin Zhe said the three Koreans were most likely the persons in charge of sub-contractor Shinsung E&G, which was under Hyundai Engineering that was responsible for the construction of a copper foil production factory in KKIP.
He said Hyundai Engineering was the main contractor for the factory construction by SK Nexilis.
"The incident occurred due to delayed salary payment by Shinsung E&G. The original payment should have been made on April 5," he said.
Phoong, who was also the Entrepreneurship chairman of KKIP Group, said due to some internal reasons, the payment had been postponed to April 18.
"It is believed that due to delayed salary payment by the sub-contractor, the workers were greatly disappointed and then turned aggressive when demanding immediate payment," he said.
He said the injured men were sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment while police reports had been lodged and investigation on this case was ongoing.
Phoong said he was now on an official working visit in China but has been monitoring this incident.
He said after communicating with the investor, SK Nexilis and the main contractor Hyundai Engineering personally, they had made assurances that salary payments would be completed as soon as possible on April 17 and 18 to the affected workers.
He said KKIP chief executive officer Lawrence G Kimkuan would have a meeting with SK Nexilis and related parties soon to solve this matter amicably.
"I’ve urged all parties involved to resolve the salary dispute swiftly in a peaceful manner and ensure that everyone can have a harmonious Raya this coming weekend," said Phoong.
He also urged all parties to not try and resolve the matter through violence, as it would not lead to any solutions.
"Both sides should sit down and communicate to reach common grounds," he said.
Kota Kinabalu OCPD Asst Comm Zaidi Abdullah said a statement would be issued on this matter later.
