KUCHING: Sarawak appears to be in a Catch 22 situation in that it has to weed out illegal foreign workers, though it still needs at least 30,000 more for the plantation and construction sectors.
State immigration director Datu Robert Lian disclosed this predicament when speaking to The Borneo Post yesterday.
“Our operations to weed up illegal workers will be ongoing. But I was also informed by the relevant agencies and authorities that we need an additional 30,000 workers to work in our plantation and construction sectors,” he said.
Under the 6P operation codenamed ‘Ops Pati 2014’ started on Jan 21 nationwide, his department only managed to arrest 174 illegal immigrants in Sarawak.
When contacted, Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) secretary-general Sim Kiang Chiok admitted that the construction sector was in a tight situation over the seeming shortage of workers.
“It may become critical in the next two to five years’ time. This is because of the success story of the mammoth Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) projects especially in Bintulu where workers prefer to work for much higher pay,” he said.
Nevertheless, Sim said his association had held several meetings with the relevant authorities and agencies to recruit more workers from Asean countries.
Land Development Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing also admitted that the plantation sector was facing a shortage of manpower.
“Yes we are short of 30,000 workers. It costs us a few million ringgit a year,” he said.
When contacted, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem revealed that it was also the same case throughout the country.
“Actually we are facing shortage of workers in the plantation sector, manufacturing sector, construction sector and to a certain extent the service sector,” he said.
Riot disclosed that to address the situation, the cabinet had set up a committee made up of the Foreign Ministry, Home Ministry, Health ministry and the Ministry of Human Resources.
Currently, he said, there were some 2.6 million legal workers and an estimated 5 million illegal ones in the country.
“Insofar as the government is concerned we would prefer employers to employ our own people by ensuring that they advertise their vacancies in the newspapers,” he said.
However, he admitted that many employers still preferred to engage illegal workers to avoid the paperwork and red tape.