In a report by The Star Online, its executive director Mohamad Audong, appealed to the government to reconsider its decision and said, “Mapa needs 7,000 new workers in the oil palm industry before the peak harvesting season in May.”
“If we don’t get new workers by then, there will be Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) rotting on the ground,” he said, adding that this could lead to the industry losing up to RM400 million a month (or RM5 billion annually).
Mohamad was commenting on Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s announcement last Saturday that employers who needed foreign help would have to legalise existing foreign workers in the country who did not have work permits.
However, according to him, not a single illegal foreign worker had joined the plantation industry under amnesty programmes. Instead, many deliberately lost their documents so they could apply for jobs which were deemed less dirty, dangerous and demeaning, under the 6P programme, he said.
“Even legal workers in plantations wanted to become illegal so they could change employers and work in the services or manufacturing sector.”
The portal also quoted SME Association of Malaysia national president Michael Kang, who said the Government’s decision to stop hiring new foreign workers may force some companies to close shop, or relocate.
Kang suggested starting a task force comprising both the government and private sectors to look into the issue.