KUALA LUMPUR (May 28): The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has slammed the government for allowing employers a further three months to comply with a legal amendment to improve their workers’ accommodations.

In a statement today, MTUC secretary general J Solomon said it could not understand why Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan would grant the extension as many recent Covid-19 cases involved migrant workers living at construction sites, not just the ones held in immigration detention centres.

"It is totally irresponsible for the minister to expect Malaysians to continue living with the risk of foreign workers' dormitories becoming new clusters of Covid-19 simply because he thinks that employers need more time to comply with laws that were passed 10 months ago," he said.

The Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 was amended to cover housing and accommodation for workers in all sectors within Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, from only workers in plantations exceeding 20 acres (8.09ha) or the mining sector.

This would involve a minimum standard for space requirements, basic facilities, safety and hygiene.

The amendments were passed by the Dewan Rakyat last July and were gazetted by the Dewan Negara in September last year, with an enforcement date of June 1, 2020.

Saravanan had announced the three-month grace period, saying it was to allow employers the space to make preparations to comply with the requirements.
Solomon pointed out that the minister’s decision came as the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had called for short- and long-term solutions to ensure that the dwellings of migrant workers did not become clusters for outbreaks of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.

"The solutions sought by the MoH are rooted in the amendments to the Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 passed nearly one year ago. But with only less than a week to go before the amendments become the law, it is very regrettable the government has readily given employers a further three months to comply with the law despite the Covid-19 pandemic," Solomon said.

He added that the MTUC was “very pleased” when Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced on Tuesday that the government had established the standard operating procedure (SOP) for foreign workers’ quarters and "rumah kongsi" in the country to curb the spread of Covid-19 infection.

He also highlighted that Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof had also warned that companies failing to provide adequate housing for their workers would face strong action.

"It showed, albeit briefly, that the government recognised the poor living conditions of foreign workers as a potential risk of becoming Covid-19 clusters, as what had happened in Singapore.

“However, much to our dismay, Saravanan not only failed to announce the promised SOP, but he also put on hold the enforcement of the law to directly improve the living conditions of foreign workers in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is clearly not right,” he said.

He urged Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to immediately intervene and implement the SOP announced by Ismail Sabri, and ensure that the amendments are implemented as scheduled.

Stay at home. We will deliver the news to you at theedgemarkets.com.