GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has requested a one-year moratorium on fines against employers for having foreign workers staying in housing schemes.
State Housing, Local Government and Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said that the request was a temporary measure to provide shelter due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the state would need at least 20 workers’ dormitories to be able to accommodate the 135,490 registered foreign workers.
“Hence, Penang would like to ask for a moratorium of at least one year until we can find a solution for all industries to find a proper place to shelter their foreign workers,” Jagdeep told a press conference here.
He said the state government had planned to have workers’ dormitories for foreign workers even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“So far, approval has been given for six workers’ dormitories and two of them have already been built, namely in Batu Maung and Bukit Minyak.
“Even with all six workers’ dormitories built, it would still not be enough to properly house all the registered foreign workers in Penang.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to think out of the box and re-strategise.”
Jagdeep said the issue of foreign workers residing in housing schemes had been an ongoing issue in the state even before the pandemic and employers were fined RM50,000 per worker in these areas.
He said in one instance, state authorities had found 30 foreign workers staying in one housing unit.
“But it is a Catch-22 situation. Employers are fined and asked to shelter the foreign workers elsewhere but end up putting them up in yet another housing scheme,” he said. - FMT
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