THE National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) today took the Human Resources Ministry (MOHR) to task for “being clueless” about containment measures for Covid-19 at workplaces.

Union secretary-general J Solomon said workplaces with both local and foreign workers contributed the most Covid-19 clusters among other place in recent weeks and that the director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had earlier issued ample warnings about the development.

“Instead of the D-G’s statement serving as a warning to the government, especially the MOHR and the relevant authorities, to get their act together, the situation has only  worsened,” Solomon said in a statement today.

“Due to MOHR’s inaction, a high number of workplaces have continued to ‘evolve’ into Covid-19 clusters.”

Solomon said the minister in charge M. Saravanan and the ministry’s top officials must wake up to reality and do more to halt the infection spread at workplaces.

He said Saravanan must also be accountable for the growing number of workplace clusters as lockdowns are imposed time and again.

“Emergency laws may be needed to impose stiffer punishment but the key is still having an effective system of enforcement on the ground to check on workplaces. The MOHR must take the lead role.”

He said people and the business community are facing a great deal of hardship because of the MCO being enforced yet again in some states.

“The government says the measures are necessary to contain the sharp spike of Covid-19 cases as the health ministry resources are stretched to the limit in major cities.

“The sad reality is we seem to be at a loss as to how to deal with this pandemic at a time when other countries, including our neighbours, have been able to do so and some are even on the road to economic recovery,” Solomon said.

More than 500 workplace clusters have been detected so far as they continue to account for a significant portion of the Health Ministry’s daily Covid-19 clusters report.

Solomon said the government seemed to be deploying the same measures to contain the virus over and over again but expecting different results.

“The MCO, CMCO or other lockdowns are doomed to fail unless the MOHR displays stronger resolve with regard to SOPs at work places and workers hostels.

“Unless the MOHR takes the lead to crack down on errant employers who take the SOPs lightly, this wave will only worsen in the coming weeks.”

“For instance, on Friday (May 7), 10 of the 19 clusters detected nationwide were at work places. Such statistics have been the ‘new normal’ and yet there is hardly any news on the Labour Department cracking down on errant employers flouting SOPs to stem the tide.

“The Human Resources minister seems to have thrown in the towel,  merely giving feeble advice to employers to abide with the SOPs (standard operating procedures), with little or no emphasis at all in ensuring his officers carry out sustained and thorough checks at work places.

“As a result, many errant employers in the plantation, manufacturing, retail and other sectors seem to have a free run in deciding how, or how many of the SOPs need to be enforced, even as more and more work places turn into Covid-19 clusters, he said.”

Solomon also chided the minister for relaxing the implementation of Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) which he described as a major setback for containing the pandemic and was a big win for employers.

“The minister and errant employers chose to ignore, at least until year end, the need to provide foreign workers with better and cleaner living conditions as a vital strategy to mitigate the pandemic,” he said.

He added that the current wave of infection will only worsen in the coming weeks unless the ministry cracks down on errant employers who take the SOPs lightly.

“The minister and errant employers chose to ignore, at least until year end,  the need to provide foreign workers with better and cleaner living conditions as a vital strategy to mitigate the pandemic.”

“Only four days before the minister had announced the decision (to suspend  the enforcement of workers accommodation act), his deputy, Awang Hashim had was quoted as saying: “Many positive Covid-19 cases occur among foreign workers due to, among others, lack of good sanitation facilities and the accommodation not being managed properly.”

The contradictions and U-turns in MOHR are a comedy of errors and laughable if not for the fact that the actions (and inaction) by the minister had significantly impeded efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 among workers”

Solomon said that no matter how hard the ministry tries, the decision to suspend the enforcement of Act 446 , especially at a time when all must be done to protect workers from being  exposed to the virus, cannot be justified.

He said it was not too late for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to step in and revoke the suspension order given by the minister.  

Solomon said there must be concerted efforts to ensure employers improve the workers’ living conditions to keep them safe from the virus. – May 9, 2021.