THE shortage of manpower due to the Covid-19 pandemic cost the plantation sector up to RM20 billion last year, Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan said.

According to Saravanan, one of the most affected sectors was oil palm plantations, heavily dependent on foreign labour.

Therefore, he said, the ministry is opening registration for migrant workers from the end of this month to meet the needs of the sector.

“Local (citizens) have not shown interest, even though we have been looking for almost a year and given the opportunity,” he said when answering a supplementary question from Haji Salim Sharif (Jempol-BN) during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Meanwhile, he said the government was focused on training and worker development programmes to create a highly skilled and competent local workforce, as well as to meet the current and future needs of the industry.

“The 2022 Budget has allocated RM4.8 billion for the Malaysian Family job guarantee initiative to support the goal of reducing the unemployment rate by providing 600,000 job opportunities this year,” he said in response to a question by S. Kesavan (Sungai Siput-PH). – Bernama, March 8, 2022.