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KUALA LUMPUR: An opposition deputy has alleged that several high-ranking politicians participated as intermediaries who brought foreign workers into the country through special approvals.
Citing the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the matter recently, Wong Hon Wai (PH-Bukit Bendera) asked them to introduce themselves and explain their involvement.
Wong named five MPs and assemblymen at a press conference in Parliament today, but the FMT is withholding their names until it can get confirmation.
“I ask you to explain your participation in the special request for foreign workers. They didn’t apply just to hire a foreign maid. We could still accept that, but this is not the case. This is to bring dozens, hundreds of foreigners, ”he said.
Wong said that the intermediaries in the hiring of foreign workers had written letters to the interior minister to obtain special approvals to “circumvent existing regulations.”
He said they accounted for 55% or 512,315 of the total 928,825 approvals, compared to 416,510 applications that were approved through the normal system, between 2016 and 2018.
He urged those involved in the auditor general’s findings on the admission of foreign workers in the “2018 Series 1” report to name the intermediaries, adding that all five could simply be the “tip of the iceberg.”
Yesterday, PAC had revealed several weaknesses in the government’s management of foreign workers, following its investigation into the findings of the auditor general’s report.
Its president, Wong Kah Woh, said that in addition to the existence of intermediaries, the report highlighted the granting of too many special approvals to circumvent existing regulations and the entry of foreign workers who did not pass their medical exams.
