THE human resources minister should make it easier for employers of foreign workers who have to queue for hours for the quota application interview, Lim Guan Eng said.

The DAP chairman said in the digital era, it makes no sense to have employers queue for long fruitless hours.

Lim slammed Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan for his “incompetence” in handling the foreign worker quota application interview.

“Saravanan’s disappointing display of ignorance and incompetence in the deplorable processing for the recruitment of foreign workers will ultimately cost Malaysian industries tens of billions of ringgit,” he said.

“As many as 1,000 employers were reported to be upset after being turned away from the Human Resources Ministry yesterday, when they were unable to be interviewed for their foreign worker quota applications.

“Some have queued up to 20 hours beginning the night before but were forced to have their interview dates postponed because of the large number that showed up.”

Yesterday, employers were left disgruntled after being turned away from the ministry when they were unable to be interviewed for their foreign worker quota applications.

Despite having queued for hours from as early as 6am, many were forced to have their interview dates postponed.

Lim said yesterday’s debacle will hinder efforts by all industries to overcome the 1.2 million worker shortage and several sectors, including the plantation, glove and auto spare parts industries, will incur losses of up to RM33.5 billion.

“Malaysia’s E&E (electrical and electronics) sector needs at least 30,000 workers urgently. More will be needed if companies want to expand their factories or set up new ones,” he said.

“The labour shortage would jeopardise exports for the E&E sector, which rose by 18% from RM386 billion in 2020 to RM456 billion in 2021, generated 56% of Malaysia’s 2021 trade surplus, and accounted for 6.3% of 2021’s total worldwide E&E exports,” Lim said.

The former finance minister added that Saravanan should help instead of harm businesses by cutting red tape.

He urged the MIC leader to implement an efficient processing system for a quick turnaround on the huge backlog of applications.

“How can Malaysia generate economic growth and if such a simple matter of documentation and processing of foreign labour recruitment cannot be resolved.

“The government must expedite foreign worker approvals through a transparent, predictable and effective mechanism.

“What happened yesterday is a damning indictment of the lack of performance and a litany of broken promises by M. Saravanan,” Lim added. – August 30, 2022.