A local vegetable farmer is facing a dilemma. He said he stands to lose RM19,000 every month as he waits for his six migrant worker applications to be approved.
Otherwise, he could try paying up to RM30,000 for an interview with an officer in the Human Resources Ministry, he said, to move his application forward.
Fearing reprisal for highlighting his plight to the media, the farmer declined to be named.
He shared with Malaysiakini that since his application was submitted, he has been contacted by people claiming to be recruitment agents offering to “speed up” his application for a fee as high as RM5,000 per worker.
“Different agents claimed to have different approaches and I was offered as low as RM1,500 per worker, for my quota application of just six workers.
“But they all suggested that I cancel my current pending application and re-submit under their application,” he explained.
Some of the offers came with extra conditions, he said, including one agent offering to get his application approved for all six workers in exchange for two of the six to remain under their “care”.
“He said, for just RM6,000, I could get a quota for all six workers, but he asked me to give him two of my workers for the duration of their work permits.
"The deal was their permits remained under my company name but the workers remained with him,” said the shocked farmer.
He explained that he was not looking to speed up his application but for any indication that his application was being processed.
He has not received any feedback on what he should do next since he submitted his application in April.
Feeling like his application had been lost, the farmer said he turned to a former director of the Labour Department for assistance.
“I felt since he had connections within the department, I could ask him for some feedback on my application.
“However, after two days and to my surprise, he came back to me with another figure. The price was RM2,000 per worker, for my quota to be approved,” he shared.
Unwilling to make that payment, the farmer continues to wait and incur losses at a time when the country is facing a shortage of vegetables.
On July 2, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa, who chairs the Special Task Force on Jihad Against Inflation, said vegetable production had not reached its original capacity.
Annuar attributed this to workers having not returned to Malaysia from their respective countries or foreign workers who have been hired but have not entered the country to start work.
‘Won’t compromise principles’
The farmer, who needs extra hands to till his 2.1ha plot of land located outside the Klang Valley, said his application has had a “Pending for DQ Approval” statement in the system since April.
“I am actually at a point of desperation, but I will not compromise my principles and if I go ahead with taking up their offers, it just perpetuates the whole corrupt system,” said the farmer who is disappointed because the system is supposed to be free.
He has since learned that “DQ” is the abbreviation for “Digital Quality” and the application was pending approval from the Ministry of Human Resources for his request for six workers.
“The report from the Agriculture Department that I submitted clearly that they have visited my farm and supported my request for six workers.
“There has been no progress report or any response on my application and three months have passed.
“Every month I don’t fully utilise my farm because of the shortage of workers, I am losing RM19,000,” said the farmer who has already identified his workers from their source country.
Feeling exasperated, he said he was currently only producing about 1.2 tonnes of vegetables when he could be producing four to five tonnes with the six additional workers.
FWCMS is not responsible for applications
The farmer uploaded his application onto the Foreign Worker Central Management System (FWCMS), which is under the Human Resources Ministry.
Along with his application, he included a recommendation letter from his state’s Agriculture Department attesting to his requirement for six workers.
The migrant worker system is provided for free to users by Bestinet Sdn Bhd and when contacted, its CEO Ismail Mohd Noor clarified with Malaysiakini that the approval of applications is not under their purview.
In a written statement, Ismail said FWCMS was unable to speed up the process and stressed that all data collected by FWCMS are protected under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010.
“We are committed to treating those data responsibly and with strict protocols to ensure the integrity of the system,” he said.
Minister responded swiftly to MP with a similar complaint
Meanwhile, the farmer's statement rang true when Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham made a similar statement in Parliament last Tuesday (July 26).
In a subsequent press conference held on Aug 1 at Parliament, Ngeh said he debunked claims by Human Resources Minister M Saravanan that employers were able to apply for foreign workers online, without an agent.
He said his statement made in Parliament on July 26 was responded to by Saravanan with meetings to clarify his complaints.
Ngeh explained that he provided proof that agents were paying bribes of RM1,500 to officers in the Human Resources Ministry for each foreign worker sought by employers.
Following his meetings with the minister, many employers received appointments to meet ministry officials and commended Saravanan for his interventions.
“They thanked me for exposing the matter in Parliament. I am very happy and welcome this positive development," Ngeh said.
‘Ministers sabotaging economy’
Klang MP Charles Santiago said there was a turf war between Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin and Saravanan - and this was derailing the country’s effort to recover from the Covid-19 downturn.
“The two ministers, engaged in a turf war over migrant worker approvals, were sabotaging the economy,” Charles declared.
He recommended that the two ministries be thoroughly investigated because the corruption was too entrenched.
He also recommended that the entire migrant worker application and approval process be placed under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department.
Additionally, Charles called for a new online system that can alert high-ranking officers if applications are delayed.
He said with the help of widgets, such alert systems could be put in place for a more transparent and efficient process.
“According to oil palm plantation owners, their collective loss has reached RM10 billion solely because of the shortage of workers.
“In the agriculture sector, vegetable farmers, for example, cannot meet their targets, since they cannot fully utilise their entire farms because of the shortage of workers.
“They will end up planting on 1.2 hectares instead of maximising their two hectares and the poultry farmers are also facing similar problems,” Charles said.
He said many restaurants have also shuttered owing to a lack of manpower.
He explained that local wages were not increasing at a rate that would allow Malaysians to take up those jobs.
Referring to the vegetable farmer’s claims, Charles said this was a common occurrence and neither ministry needed to investigate the number of workers required by the farmer.
“In the case of the farmer, it is done by the local Agriculture Department officers who visited his farm and gave their attestation in the form of a letter,” he said.
Based on the testimony of the farmer, Charles speculated that whoever was looking at his application was allocating certain amounts of quotas to various agents.
He said this explained why applicants were receiving random phone calls from agents offering to speed up approvals for a price. - Mkini
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