INTERVIEW | The construction of Indonesia’s new capital city in Kalimantan is unlikely to reduce the supply of workers to Malaysia, said Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Fadillah said Indonesia was a very large country with a huge pool of workers.
"I don't think all of their people will be able to have the same opportunities, even in Kalimantan for that matter.
"That's why there are still many people from Kalimantan going to Sarawak and Sabah to work.
“So I don't find that much of an additional challenge," said Fadillah, who is also the plantation and commodities minister.
Fadillah said Indonesians are still expected to fill up vacancies in the plantation sector, which required 120,000 workers after the Covid-19 measures were lifted on Aug 1 last year.
Indonesia had previously banned workers from entering Malaysia due to insufficient protections provided to foreign workers.
The ban was recently lifted, albeit with stricter exit measures in place such as enforcing a “one channel system” that only allows workers to leave the country through accredited agencies.
"It's not so much that people are not coming in, but rather there are more conditions in Kalimantan or Indonesia.
"This is to make it much more difficult for people to go out because of the procedures they need to follow but there's still people coming, quite a number," he said.
Fadillah added that Sarawak also continues to attract Indonesian tourists and those seeking options for healthcare and education facilities.
Prior to the pandemic, Indonesians were the fourth largest foreign worker group in Malaysia, mostly in plantation, construction, manufacturing and domestic assistance.
Actively engaging Indonesian govt
Fadillah said stakeholders in both Sarawak and Sabah have been actively engaging their counterparts in Kalimantan in order to participate in plans formulated by Indonesian President Joko Widodo's administration.
This commitment was reaffirmed during Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's visit to Indonesia in January and Malaysian companies involved in plantation and construction, among others, will be involved.
"Sarawak was given one package of hydropower construction in Kalimantan.
"We are selling our power to Kalimantan and with that, I think there will be a lot more opportunities," said Fadillah, a five-term Petrajaya MP, in reference to state GLC Sarawak Energy's role as joint venture developers of Mentarang Induk Hydropower Project (MIHEP) in North Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The US$2.6 billion (RM11.5 billion) project - reportedly targeted for operations in 2029 - is Sarawak Energy’s first international hydropower venture, following 40 years of domestic experience.
On March 1, Jokowi witnessed the official ground-breaking event in Malinau alongside Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg.
Domestically, Fadillah said the federal government and Sarawak government are also expediting necessary improvements to existing infrastructures, including the strengthening of border security.
"There is a joint committee between Sarawak, Sabah and Kalimantan that focuses on safety and security," he said, citing ongoing upgrades to various Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex in the two states.
Previously, the Finance Ministry had approved an additional RM1 billion for upgrading projects and constructing better infrastructure along the 1,881km border separating Sarawak and Sabah from Kalimantan.
EU’s palm oil rule ‘unjust’
Meanwhile, Fadillah said Egypt has offered Malaysian companies to set up palm oil mills there, as Malaysia explores other markets in view of European Union regulations which curb palm oil imports.
“They want Egypt to be the hub (for palm oil distribution) for the African continent and to partly serve the Middle Eastern region - so negotiations are still ongoing.
“In principle, it has been agreed, but it's more of a business discussion right now. The government is supportive of it,” he said, adding that he will be meeting a major player in palm oil imports and distribution shortly after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.
Yesterday, Fadillah described the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) as “unjust”, claiming that the regulation is a deliberate effort to increase costs and barriers for Malaysia’s palm oil sector and it would hurt more than 450,000 smallholders.
He said that the EUDR would ultimately increase poverty, reduce household incomes and harm rural communities, therefore going against EU’s commitments to the UN sustainable development goals.
"The EUDR is unjust and serves primarily to protect a domestic oilseeds market that is inefficient and cannot compete with Malaysia’s efficient and productive palm oil exports," Fadillah said.
Fadillah told Malaysiakini that Malaysia has a strong commitment towards replanting trees, especially in Sarawak.
“It's still ongoing. In fact, for our ministry, we're looking at replanting for community farming (and) replanting for forest products that can be reused.
"We need strong support from the state government. Forest reserves, we must not touch (them). No more deforestation (in) forest reserves,” Fadillah said.
Putrajaya kicked off its Greening Malaysia programme in 2021 with a goal of planting 100 million trees by 2025.
Sarawak is leading the replanting of trees with 21.5 million trees planted thus far, exceeding its target of seven million trees planted annually. - Mkini
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