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KUALA LUMPUR: The government will carry out a study on the possibility of providing housing for foreign workers to curb the transmission of Covid-19 at construction sites, said Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa.
To this end, he said, the ministry is in talks with several other ministries and the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).
“Sometimes we meet foreign workers living in newly completed buildings. We don’t want this kind of thing to happen again.
“Previously, Covid-19 cases were detected at the Pavilion Embassy construction site during the second wave.
“It is happening again now that we have the Damanlela construction works group,” he said at a press conference after presenting donations to residents’ associations in Kuala Lumpur under the Cakna 3.0 initiative.
His alternate, Santhara Kumar, was also present.
Annuar said the increase in cases showed that the rooms of foreign workers did not meet the required standards. The community’s lifestyle is a serious health threat, providing the perfect conditions for the spread of the virus, he added.
“As such, we will see what kind of approach can be taken, including the feasibility of providing centralized rooms for these foreign workers.
“Those (contractors) who hire the services of foreign workers must ensure that they are free from the disease and provided with adequate housing,” he said.
As of November 18, out of a total of 3,128 construction workers screened after the Damanlela group was detected, 1,346 positive cases of Covid-19 had been recorded.
However, Chief Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was reported to have said that it was not necessary to enforce an Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) as the health ministry had already screened all the foreign workers involved and the two construction sites connected the infections had been closed.
