Consider hiring stateless people, a Sabah minister suggests

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should consider hiring stateless people to fill the labourer vacancies in the state, a state minister suggests.

State Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe said with Sabah gearing up its industrialisation, there is a constant need for labour supply.

He said dependency on foreign workers could be reduced if the state is able to tap into the available sources it currently has.

"Although this issue remains a sensitive topic for many, it is something that has to be dealt with seriously," he said in response to recent calls from the United Nations for Sabah to tap the potential of immigrants, who could contribute to the state's economy and transformation.

On Jan 25, United Nation's resident coordinator for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Karima El Korri, said there was an urgency to devise appropriate solutions to address statelessness and undocumented people in Sabah.

Speaking further, Phoong said statistics showed that over half of the population in Sabah, including non-citizens, were below the age of 40.

In view of this, he said a mechanism should be in place to allow the non-citizens to contribute to the state's economic growth.

"We have a relatively young population," he said at a Chinese New Year luncheon with media practitioners here on Saturday (Feb 3).

Phoong also said Sabah must expand its industries and go downstream, so that the locals, who were not willing to do plantation or upstream jobs, would also be able to contribute to the workforce and economy.

The fact that many industries, especially the plantation sector, continue hiring undocumented people to address labour shortage problems showed that the state should seriously find alternative means to solve these matters, he added.