PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob should personally intervene to resolve the temporary freeze of Indonesian workers coming into Malaysia, said Lim Guan Eng.

Instead of delegating the task to others, the DAP chairman was of the opinion that the prime minister’s personal intervention could potentially repair the currently strained relationship with Indonesia on this matter.

“Instead of personally intervening on such a major economic and diplomatic matter, Ismail has chosen to delegate and instruct the ministry of human resources and the home ministry to immediately resolve the issue of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the recruitment of Indonesian workers signed between the two countries.

“How can both ministries resolve the problem when they were responsible for creating the problem in the first place?” the former finance minister asked.

On Wednesday, Indonesia said it had temporarily stopped sending its citizens to work in Malaysia, including thousands recruited for the plantation sector, citing a breach in a worker recruitment deal signed between the two countries.

The freeze is the latest blow for Malaysia — the world’s second-largest palm oil producer and a key link in the global supply chain — which is facing a shortage of some 1.2 million workers that could derail its economic recovery.

In response to it, yesterday, Ismail instructed the human resources Ministry and home ministry to immediately resolve the issue regarding the MOU on the recruitment of Indonesian workers.

Ismail said the matter must be settled immediately to avoid problems between Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Bagan MP lamented Ismail’s lack of involvement in such a serious matter, saying the current government failed to handle the matter effectively and professionally.

Lim said the intransigence between Malaysia and Indonesia on this issue could potentially worsen the severity of the nation’s economy, given the current global crisis.

“This is a classic case of Albert Einstein expressing that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

“Ismail should stop delegating the problem but take charge when the nation’s economy, business community and rakyat want an immediate solution.

“Ismail should learn to be part of the solution instead of being part of the problem so that economic growth will not be hampered due to the inefficiency and incompetence of his government,” Lim added.

The DAP lawmaker claimed that the situation has never been this bad before.

However, he strongly felt that the prime minister’s personal intervention could easily resolve the tiff between the two countries.

 “Due to the 1.2 million worker shortage, the plantation and glove industry alone are facing losses of RM21 billion and the damage could run to tens of billions of ringgit more if other sectors are included.

“This desperate state of affairs is reprehensible because it could be easily resolved with a stroke of a pen or the personal intervention of the prime minister,” he added. - July 16, 2022.