EMPLOYERS URGED TO DROP FUTURE FOREIGN WORKERS INTAKE

PUTRAJAYA, March 10 (Bernama) -- Human Resources Minister Dr. S.
Subramaniam Tuesday called on employers who had received approval to bring in
foreign workers but had not done so to drop their plans.

He said in the current economic situation it was not proper to bring in
foreign labour.

Instead, he said, employers should give opportunity to the thousands of
Malaysians out of work.

"In this regard, I urge employers to contact my ministry to help them get
local workers especially those who had been retrenched," he said in a statement
here Tuesday.

Dr Subramaniam's statement was in response to the announcement today by the
Home Ministry that all entry-visas for Bangladeshi workers approved in 2007 and
not used were cancelled immediately.

Expresing thanks to Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar for the decision, Dr
Subramaniam said his ministry was attentive to the worries of the Malaysian
Trades Union Congress (MTUC) which had urged the government to rescind the visas
of Bangladeshi workers expected to arrive here soon following a Bernama report
quoting the Labour Counsellor at the Bangladesh High Commission here, Talat
Mahmud Khan, on the matter.

"The ministry is appreciative of problems faced by employers who find it
difficult to get local workers due to their choosiness and apprehension towards
difficult and heavy work.

"In that regard I urge ministry staff to help change the mindset of local
workers to fill the many vacancies in the country," he said.

On Talat's statement on the future influx of Bangladeshi workers, Dr
Subramaniam said it was not proper for Talat to make the statement as he (Talat)
was well aware of the loss of jobs due to the global economic crisis.

"My ministry has information that the Bangladeshi workers are those whose
visas had been approved to work here with outsourcing companies and individual
companies. They are understood to work in the plantation, agriculture and
construction sectors," he said.

Talat's said 70,000 workers were expected to arrive but Syed Hamid Tuesday
corrected that figure by saying that till Dec 31, 2007 only 55,147 workers had
their visas approved.

Dr. Subramaniam said one measure to overcome unemployment of local workers
was to freeze intake of foreign workers in the manufacturing sector, namely the
electronic, electrical, garments and textiles sectors, and the services sectors
of hotels and tourism.

He said for other sectors approval would be tightened and consideration
would be based on employers' pressing needs and the unavailability of locals to
fill the vacancies.
-- BERNAMA