Malaysia says it’s studying new migrant worker hiring system
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The Ministry of Human Resources said such an approach would enable direct recruitment of workers and the recruitment costs would be borne entirely by employers.
PHOTO: AFP
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is exploring the need to develop a new digital platform to improve hiring of foreign workers, according to its Ministry of Human Resources.
Such an approach would enable direct recruitment of workers, with recruitment costs borne entirely by employers, the ministry said in a statement on April 21.
Reports that a decision has been made are untrue and don’t reflect the government’s position, it said.
“All the proposals are still in the evaluation stage and have not been decided and no commitments, appointments or agreements have been made with any parties to date,” the ministry said, without specifying which proposals it was considering.
Bloomberg News reported last week, citing six people familiar with the matter, that Malaysia is planning to adopt a new foreign worker system developed by Bestinet Sdn Bhd, the company founded by tycoon Aminul Islam.
Called The Universal Recruitment Advanced Platform, or TURAP, it will have a digital portal where employers can sign up and find employees, the people said.
In response to the Bloomberg report, Human Resources Minister Ramanan Ramakrishnan told local newspaper the New Straits Times that the matter is still in discussion and that he saw no issue with adopting a new system developed by Bestinet.
Lui & Bhullar, a law firm representing Datuk Seri Aminul, said that he declined to comment.
On April 20, former economy minister Rafizi Ramli and eight other lawmakers said in a statement that Malaysia didn’t need a new recruitment system, and that any project related to national security shouldn’t be done in a public-private partnership.
Mr Charles Santiago, a former Member of Parliament, last week called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the procurement process for the new system.
Bestinet’s Chief Executive Officer Ismail Mohd Noor declined to comment.
Bloomberg News published an investigation in January into endemic corruption in Malaysia’s recruitment of migrant workers from Bangladesh.
The article mentioned the roles played in the recruitment process by Mr Aminul, who’s also known as Amin, and Bestinet.
Mr Amirul has denied that he’s contributed to migrant workers being charged high recruitment fees and said he has devoted his life to helping them. BLOOMBERG
