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PETALING JAYA: A glove company in Kajang was ordered closed for seven days for failing to comply with Covid-19 preventive measures, with media reports saying its workers were surprisingly found living in shipping containers.
The closure notice said the factory was ordered to close from December 24-30 to help curb the spread of Covid-19.
In a joint operation carried out by several agencies on Monday (December 21) morning, authorities found that the factory owner had allegedly violated several laws, including the Law of Minimum Standards of Housing and Services for Workers (Law 446 ).
During the raid, in which the Minister of Human Resources, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, also participated, workers were found living in two blocks of shipping containers.
“The factory hired a total of 781 employees, made up of 759 foreign and 22 local workers.
“Aside from law enforcement, operations also investigated whether the factory owner had complied with standard operating procedures to prevent Covid-19, under the Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Act of 1988, which is competence of the Ministry of Health. “the Human Resources Ministry said in a statement later Monday.
Saravanan said the joint operation by the Department of Labor, the Health Ministry and the Hulu Langat Covid-19 compliance task force was a proactive effort by the government to enforce the law.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Astro Awani, Saravanan had expressed surprise at seeing the living conditions.
“I can’t believe these places exist in Malaysia, and I’m not sure how they could have lived in such terrible and dirty conditions.
“I call this ‘modern slavery’ and employers must ensure the protection of the well-being of their workers.
“Local governments should have already identified those places. If the Department of Labor hadn’t come today, we might not have known about this place, ”he added.
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