PETALING JAYA: Klang MP Charles Santiago has urged local councils to tighten enforcement on local businesses following the call by a prominent businessman for the government to bar foreigners from operating such enterprises.
The DAP MP also spoke of Malaysian owners renting out their licences to foreign workers in order to reap the profits with minimal work on their part.
“Most of the time, you don’t find the owner there. You only find the migrants manning the place,” he told FMT.
He added that foreigners apparently running such businesses was rampant even in Klang, and accused local councils of not being proactive in handling the issue.
“They don’t do much – no effort is made to stop these kinds of practices.
“If you give a Malaysian the licence, and they’re not there at the premises at all times, then they should just revoke it (the licence),” he said.
He also said corruption could be a factor in the lack of enforcement, noting that some business owners receive tip-offs before raids are conducted.
“When they raid, somehow the owners know it’s going to take place and they appear when the raid is happening.
“But otherwise, it’s a foreigner running the show.”
Ameer Ali Mydin, the managing director of the Mydin chain of hypermarkets, had voiced concern over foreign nationals openly being engaged in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), saying such opportunities should be reserved for Malaysians.
He said it was fine for foreigners to open high-end shops as it would offer job opportunities for locals too, but that SMEs should be reserved for locals as many big businesses like his started off as small, family-owned enterprises.
Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Raja Kamarul Bahrin told FMT it would be wrong to assume that foreigners were licensed by local councils to run small businesses.
He also said it would be difficult to prove that locals were renting out their licences to foreigners, although he acknowledged that this was likely.
Santiago said the issue had become a source of discontent among many, adding that it was at these retail levels that those in the B40 and M40 income groups plied their trade and earned a living.
He also said some had exploited the issue for their benefit.
“This is where the local councils together with the housing and local government ministry have to take a tough stand.
“There must be political will at the level of the local council as well as at the ministry concerned,” he said. - FMT
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