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GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has requested a one-year moratorium on fines against employers for having foreign workers in housing plans.
The chairman of the State Committee for Housing, Local Government and Urban and Rural Planning, Jagdeep Singh Deo, said the request was a temporary measure to provide shelter due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the state would need at least 20 worker dormitories to accommodate the 135,490 registered foreign workers.
“Therefore, Penang would like to ask for a moratorium of at least one year until we can find a solution for all industries to find a suitable place to house their foreign workers,” Jagdeep told a press conference here.
He said the state government had planned to have worker dormitories for foreign workers even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“So far, six workers’ dormitories have been approved and two of them have already been built, namely in Batu Maung and Bukit Minyak.
“Even with the six workers’ dormitories built, it still wouldn’t be enough to adequately house all registered foreign workers in Penang.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to think outside the box and change strategy.”
Jagdeep said that the problem of foreign workers residing in housing plans has been an ongoing problem in the state even before the pandemic and that employers were fined RM50,000 per worker in these areas.
He said that in one case, state authorities had found 30 foreign workers housed in a housing unit.
“But it is a Catch-22 situation. Employers are fined and asked to house foreign workers elsewhere, but end up installing them in another housing plan, ”he said.
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