(April 16): The trend among gangsters to extort protection money from contractors is affecting the progress of the construction industry, said Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the Home Ministry was made aware of this nationwide trend through complaints from contractors.

"This underworld economy cannot be condoned.

"If contractors are being pressured to pay such sums, the costs of construction will increase and choke them, or even if only small sums are paid, delays are bound to happen," he said after launching the annual general meeting of the Perak Malaysian Malay Contractors Association in Ipoh today.

The home minister added that although there were no case statistics, the ministry knew through complaints from contractors that they have been forced to pay protection money.

"I urge all contractors, especially those involved in large projects, to immediately report such cases and give information to police for instant action and avoid project delays due to this extortion."

Zahid said the problem was not very serious yet but had affected both government and private projects.

"The home ministry has established a standard operating procedure for police to take action in such cases after reports are investigated.

"This is not organised crime but partly street crime, which we should prevent victims from paying the money," he said, adding that one or two suspects have been identified and nabbed.

He said contractors should not be afraid of these small-time crooks who were part of a wide network.

"We have a special task force to address problems posed by gangsters," he said.

Zahid also urged that an institute to train locals in semi-skilled and skilled construction work be set up.

He said this was necessary to reduce the reliance on foreign labour.

"I will make recommendations to the Ministry of Human Resource, Youth and Sports Ministry as well as Ministry of Works to establish this training institute."

Earlier in his speech, Zahid said the presence of foreign workers in the country created many social issues, especially in the citizenship of children in marriages between foreign workers and locals.

He joked that locals liked to watch Hindustani films and were easily taken in by the looks of foreigners who looked like Indian superstar Datuk Shah Rukh Khan.

"If a foreign worker fails to renew his permit, he will be forced to return to his home country even if he is already married to a local.

"What will happen to their children? Although their mother is Malaysian, there is now a problem regarding their nationality," he said, adding that previously, the issuing of visas on arrival for Chinese tourists had resulted in many “China dolls” in the country.

"Although Chinese are not allowed to marry more than one, children were borne of such unions and abandoned in the country, creating social problems," he said.

Zahid urged the Malay Contractors Association to train the local workforce to avoid such issues from becoming widespread. – The Malaysian Insider