Put a halt to crammed quarters for migrant workers, govt told

 

Many migrant workers are being put up in ‘unliveable’ quarters, says MTUC. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The practice of housing migrant workers in private residences, shop lots or other “unliveable” quarters should be discontinued as their well-being is often neglected in such a setting, MTUC president Abdul Halim Mansor said.

He said migrant workers should live in isolated accommodation with security to ensure their safety, in accordance with Act 446 on minimum standards for workers’ housing.

However, Halim said employers had failed to comply with the workers’ housing laws and the repercussions could be seen in the current situation highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The carelessness of the employers and authorities has cost us tremendously,” he told FMT.

Klang MP Charles Santiago shared a similar view, saying migrant workers were often seen living in cramped and squalid quarters, which were hotbeds for infection.

Santiago said there were cases where employers crammed more than 20 migrant workers in a house and left them unchecked.

“No one is checking on their condition in these low-cost houses and shop lots. To make things worse, many of them are not allowed to work during the lockdown, meaning all 20 are forced to live together all the time. This is what happens when the employers are stingy beyond belief,” he said.

He said the government was also at fault for being too lenient with employers. “It can be clearly seen that the government does not crack the whip to prevent this from happening. It is because there is too much corruption in the system. That is what is causing this leniency.”

Comparing workers’ housing systems in other countries, he said Singapore was more organised in managing its migrant workers because it had stricter policies.

“In Singapore, they know exactly how many migrants are residing in the country, which is why they can implement a better system. It is completely different for us. We don’t even know how many migrant workers we have.”

North-South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira said corrupt practices might be one of the reasons why enforcement of the minimum housing standards had been stalled until the end of the year.

Human resources minister M Saravanan had previously been quoted as saying the government had agreed to relax the enforcement of the rules until the end of the year.

The decision was made after employers pleaded for more time to comply with requirements under Act 446 as many companies were still recovering from the fallout caused by the pandemic.

Pereira said: “We have given them more than enough time. I don’t think there is a political will to solve this issue.”

He said that if employers insisted on housing their workers in private residences, then proper regulations should be put in place. - FMT