NIBONG TEBAL: The government does not plan to extend the deadline for the hiring of foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, into the country through the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0, which ended on May 31.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the period given was reasonable to manage all foreign worker procedures.
“When we fixed the date, we factored in all the meaningful processes from the quota approval, health checks, obtaining the visa and arranging flight tickets,” he told reporters after attending the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak’s visit to the Seberang Perai Prison here yesterday, Bernama reported.
Saifuddin Nasution said recently, there was a surge of over 20,000 foreign workers over four days, from May 28 until 31, into the country.
“When we checked, among those who entered were those who had their visas approved 10 years ago.
“The issue is why wait till May 31 to bring them (foreign workers) in,” he said.
Saifuddin Nasution said according to the projected number with the recent trend of more than 20,000 entries, the country will have more than 2.6 million foreign workers by December this year, exceeding the target of the Economic Planning Unit which is 2.5 million foreign workers.
He said the influx of foreign workers has reached the target of foreign manpower requirements for the manufacturing, construction and service sectors.
“For the plantation and agriculture sectors, the government will process according to the existing quota approvals for now without involving new approvals and based on the cases,” he said.
Bangladesh had requested Malaysia to allow nearly 17,000 Bangladeshi workers, who had approved work visas but missed the May 31 deadline, to arrive in Malaysia by extending the entry period.
In another development, Saifuddin Nasution said he does not want to interfere in the case of a police escort to a VIP being investigated for the alleged assault of a disabled man but instead handed the case over to the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
On Friday, Razarudin said police would summon the officers involved in the investigation to Bukit Aman to assist in investigations in the near future.
