An aide to Human Resources Minister R Ramanan has questioned why Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad are speaking up about Bestinet Sdn Bhd's migrant worker management system now.
Aizuddin Abd Ghafal said the contract for the Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS) was renewed in 2024 when both were still in the cabinet.
The contract is in force until 2031.
"If there were serious weaknesses as alleged, why were their voices not heard when they were at the table making decisions?
"Why only raise issues now? This is not about differences in opinion; this is a question of consistency and honesty in politics," the political secretary said.
Yesterday, Rafizi and Nik Nazmi, together with eight other PKR MPs, raised objections against purported plans to give Bestinet another government contract to replace its FWCMS with a new system called The Universal Recruitment Advanced Platform (Turap).
In their statement, the PKR lawmakers said that FWCMS was plagued by issues, casting doubt on Bestinet's ability to develop such systems.
Bestinet has denied the allegations against it.
Confusing the rakyat
Aizuddin also accused Rafizi and Nik Nazmi's team of confusing the rakyat about the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe), which he said served a different function from the FWCMS.
The NIISe has gone through several iterations, but its latest version, to be developed by HeiTech Padu Bhd, does cover migrant worker management. It is supposed to be completed in 2028.
Aizuddin also defended the Human Resources Ministry exploring its options, saying that industry players have been clamouring for a more transparent, fair, and cost-effective migrant worker system.
He also painted it as addressing the debt bondage suffered by migrant workers.
New digital system
On March 27, Malaysiakini reported that the government is considering a new digital system to manage migrant workers, which industry sources claim will be called Turap.
Sources said the proposal aims to improve the recruitment ecosystem, which is mired by high costs and poor worker welfare.
However, industry players have expressed scepticism about whether the new system will bring genuine changes or merely add another layer to the existing systems.
Following the report, police launched an investigation into Malaysiakini, with one of its journalists called in to give a statement.
Last week, Ramanan said that he saw no issues with adopting Bestinet as the system developer, but indicated it has yet to receive government approval. - Mkini
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