The movement restriction and closure of borders since the onset of Covid-19 had brought a lot of inconveniences to ordinary folk and business communities alike, aimed at preventing the virus from spreading, said Soppoa CEO Felix Moh Mee Ho. – Bernama photo
KUCHING (March 10): Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) says the oil palm industry is in desperate need of migrant workers as there is no other alternative to replace manual harvesters.
On top of that, government departments should relook and revamp many of their operation procedures to ease the business procedure, said its (Soppoa) CEO Felix Moh Mee Ho in a press statement to welcome the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that Malaysia would enter the endemic phase, and to reopen its borders starting April 1.
For example,for many business application processes that had to be performed online, the government services were still operating in ‘unnecessary red tape culture’, he said.
“For example, it takes six to eight months to apply for a working permit for a migrant worker. Additional conditions like Labour Licence Renewal can only be done two months before licence expiry date by the Manpower Department and at least six months by Immigration Department,” he said.
“Soppoa is of the opinion that the prime minister should also consider making available a roadmap for every industry in response to the announcement made so that it gives a sense of direction of what to look forward to,” Moh said.
He said Soppoa wished to remind that if the government did not bring in migrant workers on time the reopening of borders might bring repercussions to the industry in terms of worsening labour shortage as the majority of them were ready to return home after being stranded in this country for two years.
The movement restriction and closure of borders since the onset of Covid-19 had brought a lot of inconveniences to ordinary folk and business communities alike, aimed at preventing the virus from spreading, Moh said.
“Undeniably the Malaysian government has done a great job in this respect. The mass vaccination programmes rolled out by the Sarawak government to cover every one including undocumented migrant workers should be praised.
“Malaysians should feel an incredible sense of relief upon hearing the PM’s announcement. It indicates that those unpleasant and undesirable events caused by the pandemic are about to be left behind and we are looking forward to normalcy and economic recovery.
“But a lot of preparations must be put in place before we are totally able to go back to normal life. It may be easier ‘announced’ than done. Government officials must ensure that all are in perspective before we step into April 1,” he said.
He added: “Many legislations, rules and regulations ought to be strengthened to avoid unnecessary U-turns just like in the past that had so much impacted everyone because certain decisions were not made collectively.
“Like any industry, the oil palm industry suffered great losses during the earlier part of the pandemic. Luckily, the good price of crude palm oil since the middle of 2021 cushioned the impact caused by not enough workers to harvest the fruit.”
Soppoa, however, is saddened to note that there is still no clear direction on how to resolve the worker shortage issue by the government sides, said Moh.
Several ministers have made announcements on bringing in migrant workers to help the industry since Oct 2021.
They claimed the MoUs were signed with various countries but none materialised as of now, he lamented.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3vVFWp8
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