KAJANG: There are plans to amend the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The Home Minister said that the amendments aim to wipe the slate clean for certain categories of individuals whose names were recorded by the authorities but have no criminal records.
"There are about one million names recorded.
"These include those classified as persons wanted by the police or those who had come under police investigations but are not charged in court.
"Also recorded are individuals who were called as witnesses in criminal cases and those given a discharge not amounting to acquittal," he during a Townhall Session at the Prison Department Complex in Kajang on Thursday (Nov 5).
Saifuddin cited his experience when a mother appealed for help after her son was not hired by a company due to his name appearing on the record.
"She said the incident happened many years ago when her son was arrested with a group of others by the police but was never charged.
"The amendment aims to clear their names and give such individuals a second chance," he said.
The amendments will also cover those with previous convictions who had served their sentences many years ago.
The Home Minister said he had directed that the ministry prepare a paper on the proposed amendments for the Cabinet to consider.
On a separate issue, Saifuddin said that there are currently 2.41 million registered foreign workers in the country based on Immigration Department records.
He added that the target ceiling of the government policy is not to exceed more than 2.5 million foreign workers in the country by 2025.
"This means that we are about 100,000 more before reaching this threshold," he said.
Based on this, he said the government decided to put a freeze on foreign workers despite conducting periodic reviews to determine the manpower needs in five sectors.
At present, he said that the construction, manufacturing and service sectors have exceeded their manpower needs concerning hiring of foreign workers.
However, the plantation and agriculture sectors faced a manpower shortage of about 23,000 workers, he added.
Owing to this, he said the hiring of foreign workers for these two sectors was allowed on a case-to-case basis.
He said this was because these two sectors contributed towards the nation’s economic growth.
