SBF sec-gen: Less costly to recruit foreign workers through recalibration programme

Dato Jonathan Chai

KUCHING (Feb 9): It is more economical for employers to apply for recruitment of foreign workers through the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTK) rather than to pay an agency to do so, said Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) secretary-general Dato Jonathan Chai.

He believed that most employers would not mind paying the RM1,500 fee under the RTK which has been extended by the government until the end of this year.

“The general concern here is the time taken to process the applications.

“The Home Ministry has to make sure that the permits could be renewed within a short time as pledged,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted for comments on whether he considered the fee for RTK 2.0 to be costly for businesses and operators.

Chai, however, said should the Home Ministry be able to reduce the fee, this would very much be welcomed by employers.

“Of course, it would be great if the ministry could further reduce the fee, considering that most businesses, especially the small, medium enterprises (SMEs), are still recovering from the impacts posed by the pandemic,” he said.

Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Sheda) Kuching branch chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok shared the same sentiment, pointing out that bringing in new foreign workers would not only cost more but the procedure would be time consuming as well.

“The recalibration fee of RM1,500 is for foreign workers in our country who are not registered with proper work permits.

“This fee is lower than the fee to bring in these new workers from their home countries,” he said.

He also said any reduction of fees for new foreign workers or recalibration would be good for our country to reduce the cost of running a business especially when we are all still recovering from the pandemic, on top of the supply chain disruption, high inflation and rising high interest cost.

Last month, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the government had agreed to extend the RTK 2.0 until the end of the year for foreign workers who were already in the country and did not possess full documents.

He said the programme would be able to provide job opportunities for these foreign workers to serve in seven main labour sectors including domestic workers.

However, Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) in a statement on Feb 7 said that the RTK fee was exorbitant for many businesses and operators, particularly for industries requiring hundreds of workers in a single project.

Its president Datuk NK Tong said the fee should be kept as low as possible to encourage related businesses to take part in the programme and that the government’s aim should be to help industries and the economy to recover, and not to use the programme as a source of income.

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