Police contradict Labour Dept on status of Pakistan worker who committed suicide

 

The documentation status of Pakistan worker Shahzad Ahmed, who took his own life after not being paid for four months, is still uncertain as two separate government agencies reported different investigation results.

In an investigation by the Labour Department, Shahzad's previous employer said he was undocumented. However, the police have revealed that Shahzad had a valid work permit.

When contacted, Wangsa Maju District police chief Ashari Abu Samah told Malaysiakini that the police have completed their investigation and found that Shahzad had a valid work permit that had not expired.

“For the record, the victim had all the documents, including passport and work permit, which are still valid,” Ashari said.

Therefore, the police have closed this case and categorised it under 'no further action' (NFA).

Ashari added that the police will take action if they found the company involved was employing undocumented workers.

Last week, the Labour Department told Malaysiakini that Shahzad did not have a valid work permit called a Visit Pass Temporary Employment (VPTE). It is also known by its Bahasa Malaysia acronym PLKS which stands for Pas Lawatan Kerja Sementara.

The department said because the deceased worker did not have a permit, this made it difficult to collect enough evidence to take action against the employer.

Hence, the department could only blacklist the company, barring them from hiring migrant workers in the future.

Labour Department adamant

When contacted yesterday, the Labour Department reiterated that a check of Immigration Department records found that the deceased "did not have a valid working permit (PLKS)."

The department also said they will try their best to avoid what happened to Shahzad from happening again, including by launching an online portal to allow workers to lodge complaints.

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan has also announced plans to launch a system called e-Wages to monitor the payment of salaries to workers in real-time.

Employer faced cashflow issue due to MCO

On the late payment of salary, Ashari said the police recorded statements from Shahzad’s former employer who admitted they could only pay their workers partially as they were facing financial issues under the movement control order (MCO).

The investigation found the company had no issue with late salary payments before the MCO.

“The employer said their workers stopped working for several months during the MCO but they were still providing them with the necessities, such as food and so on.

“However, when their workers started working again, the company, which is a subcontractor (of a construction project) faced financial difficulties since their main contractor paid them late as well.

“That is why the employer was unable to pay the full salary to their workers," said Ashari.

Shahzad insisted on full salary

The district police chief said the statements of five other migrant workers under the same company were recorded.

It was found that the five were informed and understood the company could not pay them full salary at the time. They also confirmed food was provided during the MCO.

The police also found out about Shahzad's attempt at getting paid in full.

“The deceased met with his employer to get his full salary and the employer then promised to pay it in early May,” Ashari said.

Shahzad took his life at a worksite along Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, on April 17, after posting a video accusing his employer of failing to pay his salary for several months.

Saravanan told Malaysiakini the company involved has been prohibited from hiring migrant workers by the Labour Department and the department has helped to ensure the company pays the due wages and goodwill money to Shahzad's family. - Mkini