Foreign worker transit centre to curb airport congestion, says Ramanan
KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Resources Ministry is planning to establish a foreign worker transit centre to manage the arrival of foreign workers and ensure they are collected by the employers who applied for them, its minister, Datuk Seri R. Ramanan, said.
He said the Cabinet had approved the establishment of the centre as part of wider reforms to the foreign worker management system, following the transfer of the foreign worker management One Stop Centre (OSC) to the ministry.
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The OSC serves as the central processing point for employers applying for foreign worker quotas before approved applications proceed to the relevant agencies and the Home Ministry for immigration and work pass matters.
Ramanan said the transit centre was intended to address several issues, including congestion at airports and cases where workers who were supposed to be collected by one employer ended up with another.
“This is to solve several issues. Number one, congestion at the airport.
“Number two, to ensure that the employer who applied is the employer who picks them up,” he told a press conference at Wisma HRD Corp today.
He said the government did not want foreign workers to leave the airport freely after arriving when they were supposed to be taken to a specific employer.
“We do not want them to be allowed to leave the airport immediately when they are supposed to work for Employer A, but instead go to Employer B or C, or simply move around after arriving here.
“So we are taking all these necessary steps,” he said.
Ramanan said the plan was still at the planning stage, with discussions to be held on the most suitable location for the centre.
He said Kesuma secretary-general Datuk Azman Mohd Yusof had contacted his counterpart at the Home Ministry, with both sides expected to meet within the next one or two days to discuss logistical matters.
He said the meeting would involve Kesuma and the Home Ministry, possibly with their respective teams, before further discussions are held with all relevant regulatory agencies.
“There will be no unilateral decision.
“It is not a case of, ‘I like to do this, I want to do this, so I just do it.’ I do not do that,” he said.
Ramanan said a temporary building could be used initially while the ministry worked on a more permanent arrangement.
“For now, we may use a temporary building. But whatever the case, the instruction and mandate have been given. We must establish a new transit centre to resolve the issues raised,” he said.
Ramanan said the ministry had yet to conduct a detailed study on the centre’s capacity, as the Cabinet decision was made only on July 1.
However, he said the initial target could be to accommodate between 1,000 and 2,000 foreign workers at any one time.
He stressed that the facility would not function as a settlement or care centre, but only as a short-term transit point before workers are collected by their employers.
“It is not a settlement. It is not a care centre. It is a transit centre.
“They come in and go out. As long as the documents are in order and the employer is identified, there should be no problem,” he said.
Ramanan said workers with documentation or other issues could be held longer for further checks.
He added that Kesuma would also establish a dedicated foreign worker division following the return of the OSC to the ministry.
