Sungai Petani MP Datuk Johari Abdul questions the role of Tan Sri Azmi Khalid in helping improve a visa approval process for the immigration department via a private company when he did nothing while being home minister. – The Malaysian Insider pic, February 6, 2015.IT firm Bestinet Sdn Bhd's claim that it had yet to obtain a government contract to implement the controversial Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS) has raised further questions, PKR said today.
Sungai Petani MP Datuk Johari Abdul and Semambu assemblyman Lee Chean Chung said Bestinet executive chairman Tan Sri Azmi Khalid must reveal who gave the firm permission to use the Immigration Department's logo in its system and brochures, given that the Cabinet had not yet approved the project.
They also demanded to know who gave Bestinet permission to utilise the information of foreign workers, which they said was highly confidential information held by the Immigration Department.
The two further asked who instructed all immigration counters in Malaysia to be closed on January 15 2015.
"Secondly, Bestinet system offers free service as claimed by Azmi Khalid. However, local agencies in foreign countries have confirmed that recruitment agents have to pay US$15 (RM54) for the purpose of merely uploading worker’s biometric information," the duo said in a statement today.
"This system may be free for local employers, but certainly there are those who will be charged, and there is a high chance these additional costs will ultimately be passed on to foreign workers and local employers."
They said Azmi had also mentioned that the Visa With Reference (VDR) could be approved within 24 hours with the Bestinet system, as opposed to two to 12 weeks when done manually.
"For what purpose has Azmi Khalid, a former Home Minister, who is aware of the inconvenience of waiting for VDR application, not performed his responsibilities to address this issue during his tenure, but makes recommendations only after his retirement?" they asked.
They also wanted to know why Putrajaya chose to outsource the VDR application process to a private firm instead of using existing government agencies such as Unit Pemodenan Tadbiran dan Perancangan Pengurusan Malaysia (Mampu) and Pasukan Petugas Khas Pemudahcara Perniagaan (Pemudah).
"We insist on an immediate explanation from both the former and incumbent home minister on the 'first ever system in the world' developed by Bestinet to allay the rakyat’s doubts."
The two warned that if their requests were not met, they would continue to expose other issues related to Bestinet and FWCMS.
On Wednesday, Azmi told a press conference that the government wanted proof of concept before it issued a contract to Bestinet, and that they would decide how much to pay the company for the system.
Azmi said Bestinet had presented its proposal to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2011 to develop a holistic system that would plug the leakages in the existing foreign worker management system, The Edge Financial Daily reported.
He said Najib had approved the idea and the prime minister's support was obtained so that Bestinet could work with government agencies to develop the system.
He added the firm had spent more than RM5 million developing the FWCMS.
In a separate statement today, Bestinet said its chief executive director Azri Rizal Abdullah had released a statutory declaration declaring that the firm was not involved in the visa fee hike in Malaysian labour source countries, including Indonesia and Nepal.
It said the statutory declaration also affirmed they were not related to the fees collection for the renewal of Visa Pass (Temporary Employment).
The Immigration department on January 26 suspended the FWCMS and biometric health check, just two weeks after the modules came into effect.
The FWCMS and biometric health checks, which were outsourced to Bestinet, had been criticised by foreign employment agency operators who threatened to stop sending workers to Malaysia.
Critics, including foreign governments, have blasted the biometric system, citing added costs and security concerns over worker information.
Bernama reported that more than 100,000 Nepalese workers left for Malaysia in the first five months of the current fiscal year 2014/2015. An estimated 750,000 Nepalese are currently working in the country.
Indonesian employment agencies were also reported as saying the exorbitant fees were a huge burden to their countrymen who are looking to either work or study in Malaysia and also threatened to stop sending workers to Malaysia.
- TMI
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.