DESPITE the stiff penalties, many employers in Sabah prefer to hire illegal workers for jobs locals do not want to do.

This is especially so in the construction and plantation sectors that still rely on labour-intensive work.

Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) president Chew Shang Hai told The Malaysian Insight although the state is plagued by an illegal migrant problem, it is still in dire need of workers where both sectors are currently experiencing a 20% labour shortage.

“Locals refuse to work in 3D (dangerous, dirty and difficult) industries, but the manner in which Sabah Immigration are enforcing the law and their costly and strict requirements, many employers prefer to hire illegals,” he said. 

The Sabah Immigration Department’s practice of arrest-first-document-later in many of its swoops have been one of the causes, said Chew.

Such practices not only provide room for “desperate bosses” to bribe officers for the release of their workers, but also hamper productivity, said Chew.

“This is even when workers’ levy has been paid. How to do business when developers also need to worry about project delivery deadlines? And today, the numbers of illegals on site are five to one against the foreign workers whose levies have been paid for.”

There are 300,000 workers needed in the state’s construction sector while close to 200,000 more in plantation, with more than 90% of the jobs being filled by foreign workers.   

Sabah currently hires Indonesians to work in plantations and Filipinos in construction.

Although there are stiff penalties for harbouring illegals, Chew said the bureaucracy involved in hiring illegals is clear cut. 

“It’s straight to court,” he said.

On top of the paperwork, agent fees and levy charges, the government does not guarantee the foreign workers they hire will not work elsewhere, said Chew.

“Levy is not cheap. How are we to make up with the money invested if they run away? 

“All the fees are paid upfront to the Immigration Department,” said Chew, adding that more than 200 foreign workers are easily needed in a single construction site. 

According to him, Shareda had previously proposed a monthly levy payment similar to the Employees Provident Fund contribution, but the Immigration Department has not responded yet. 

Although they can request for a refund, Chew said, the process is too slow. 

Sabah Immigration Department last week said regular operations to flush out illegals will continue as usual, after the passing of the E-card deadline on July 1. 

But the state government has already instructed the department to carry out a “rehiring and placement programme”, with the grace period running from February 15 until August 15 this year. 

The Sabah DAP secretary has also called the department to stop any major crackdown against illegals until the rehiring and placement programme ends next month. 

“The Sabah initiative is not the same as that for the peninsula,” he said.

Meanwhile, plantation owner Clarence Chin said many locals don’t want to take up 3D work. 

“Unless something is done to improve the conditions, locals don’t want to work in these sectors. The work is still risky and the rewards are small,” Chin said. 

Chew, who also shared the same view, said many skilled workers graduating from technical colleges continue to shun jobs from the industries as they were not attractive enough. 

“I met many qualified and skilled workers who graduated from places like the Construction Industrial Development Board Construction Academy who now work in sales and other work.

“They said the work is just too dangerous, although the salary is okay in construction,” he added.

He said the state government is not doing enough to encourage local workers like how China and Thailand are doing it.

Not only are they paid well, the Chinese workers brought into Sabah to complete local projects, for example, are provided good accommodation and other perks.

“I have come across a Chinese national working on one of the road projects in Sabah being paid RM11,000 a month. On top of that, the company which hired them would slaughter a pig daily to feed them,” said Chew.

For many coffeeshop owners, the minimum wage policy and expensive levy charges are forcing them to use the backdoor to hire illegals to ensure profitability. 

Although food is expensive in Sabah, illegals are hired to work on shifts, especially during nights when enforcement is rarely carried out.

Their salary ranges from as low as RM250 to RM450 a month, compared with the minimum wage of RM920.

A kopitiam operator in Kota Kinabalu said: “Compared with RM920 a month for a local worker or pay the levy, monthly salary, food, accommodation and the immigration paperwork, it’s much simpler to hire illegals.” – July 17, 2017.