Press Conference with Foreign Workers Agents at Immigration Department Putrajaya

Today Khoo Poay Tiong (ADUN for Ayer Keroh In Melaka) and I had a press conference together with a group of foreign workers agencies’ agents at the immigration office at Putrajaya. When I arrived there at 10.30am, I was approached by some immigration officers to meet with the director of foreign workers’ department, Puan Farah.

The purpose of the press conference is to highlight the closure of the immigration counter for renewal of foreign workers’ permit since 2nd May without any announcement by the authority.

I was surprised that my visit was greeted by many immigration officers. I conveyed the various problems faced by the employers and agents who handled renewal of workers’ permits to the director. Then only we went out of the building to have our press conference with agents and employers from Melaka and KL.
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Media Conference Comments by Teresa Kok, DAP National Vice Chairperson and MP for Seputeh at Putrajaya on Monday, 1 June, 2015
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On Feb 26, this year, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that the Cabinet decided to allow the Immigration Department counters for foreign workers’ permits to be opened beyond Feb 28.

He said that the counters would remain open until a more comprehensive plan to resolve the issue was achieved. http://www.thestar.com.my/…/Counters-to-remain-open-Bosses…/

The on Feb 24, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Wee Ka Siong announced that the Cabinet has decided to scrap the RM35 fee for the renewal of work permits for their foreign workers through the MyEG online system.

Wee also confirmed that the counter services will continue to be available to employers, saying that companies have the option of either renewing foreign workers’ permits at Immigration Department’s offices or using the online MyEG service. http://www.themalaymailonline.com/…/putrajaya-to-pay-for-fo…

But the fact is that employers can longer manually renew the workers’ permits effective May 2 as the counters have been closed since.

Did Wee make a wrong announcement or did the Immigration director general defy the Cabinet directive?

I don’t think the Immigration director general will dare to override the Cabinet’s decision. Wee must therefore explain to the employers why the counters have been closed.

Among the major complaints raised by employers on permit renewal via MyEG online services are the inefficiency of MYEG service. A main agency’s agent can renew worker’s permit at the immigration counter within half an hour, but now it takes more than a week for the maid’s permit to be approved under MYEG.

On top of that, I also have received other complaints from employers on the inefficiency of MYEG’s service and the concern on the confidentiality of employers and workers’ information.

On April 8 this year, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Wan Jaafar said that Putrajaya was looking into setting up an agency under the Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) to manage the renewal of foreign workers’ permits and break the monopoly held by MyEG Services Bhd. (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/…/putrajaya-to-set-up-ne…)

I agree with the views of Wan Junaidi that the government must not allow any monopoly of the foreign workers’ permit renewal and must let employers decide if they want to renew the workers’ permits online or manually.

Since MCA Cabinet ministers have become government spokespersons on the workers permit renewal issue, both Liow and Wee should also explain why till today the government has remained silent on the issue of refund of the service earlier collected from the employers by MyEG, following the Cabinet’s decision to scrap the service fee.

I have highlighted this issue in Parliament on May 28 and I reiterate that the employers deserve to be refunded.

Teresa Kok