KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia said yesterday that it had opened an investigation and would take legal action against the world's largest glove manufacturer, Top Glove, after finding that the firm did not comply with standards for worker accommodations.
The Ministry of Human Resources' Labour Department said that enforcement operations were carried out last week at six of Top Glove's companies in five states, investigating conditions at worker accommodations and hostels.
Nineteen investigations have been opened and the department has recommended charges against the manufacturer, but it did not specify how many.
The department said the operations were prompted by a Covid-19 outbreak at a Top Glove factory in an industrial area near Kuala Lumpur last month.
Investigators found the accommodations to be cramped and uncomfortable, to have poor ventilation and to lack rest and kitchen areas, Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia director-general Asri Ab Rahman told reporters.
He said that charges would be filed, and that the department would continue to conduct such operations from time to time.
"There is concern at the ministry and pressure on the department to ensure that worker accommodations provided do not become the source of spreading diseases, and that does not become the reason the country is convicted of forced labour," he said.
Malaysia shut down some of Top Glove's factories in stages last week to facilitate screening and quarantining employees for the coronavirus.
Top Glove has around 21,000 employees globally, with about 11,000 in Malaysia. About 5,900 of the Malaysia-based workers live in the company's premises in Selangor's Klang district.
Tighter curbs on movement, in place since Nov 14, in the areas where the factories and hostels are located have been extended to Dec 14.
A total of 3,406 Top Glove workers tested positive by Monday.
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1,472
Number of new Covid-19 infections reported in Malaysia yesterday, bringing total cases to 67,169. There were three new fatalities, taking the country's death toll to 363.
Malaysia yesterday logged 1,472 new Covid-19 infections, bringing total cases to 67,169, said the Health Ministry. There were three new fatalities, taking the country's death toll to 363.
Meanwhile, 13 hotels in Johor have ceased operations this year due to the sharp drop in visitors, Bernama news agency quoted the state's Tourism, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Onn Hafiz Ghazi as saying.
REUTERS
