Alor Gajah, Jan 13- Employers who disagree with the cost of RM110 for the i-Kad for foreign workers, should not be hiring foreign workers to work for them, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said at present, the cost of hiring foreign workers here was still much lower than that charged in other countries even with the payment for an i-Kad for each worker.
“If they (employers) don’t agree (with the i-Kad), send them (foreign workers) home…in other countries like Singapore and UAE, employers have to pay not less than US$5,000 for each foreign worker hired.
“In Malaysia, the highest levy is only RM1,850 and together with the medical check-up, i-Kad and other payments, they pay not more than RM3,000,” he said after attending a reception for new students of Sekolah Menengah Imtiaz Ulul Albab Melaka, here, Sunday.
He was asked by reporters to comment on a newspaper report yesterday which said the Malaysian Employers Federation was against the government’s move of charging RM110 for each foreign worker hired to have the i-Kad as it would burden the employers.
About 2.3 million foreign workers who have registered under the 6P Programme must have an i-Kad that is complete with security features, the latest by the end of this year, as a measure to stem the problem of illegals in this country.
Ahmad Zahid said employers should hire locals, many of whom were still in need of a job.
However, he added, employers always gave the excuse that locals did not want to work in certain sectors where many foreign workers were hired now.
“Don’t think that locals are not keen to work in these sectors but the government has set the minimum wage, so they must be paid the minimum wage and given other benefits.
“The problem is, the employers only want to make huge profits and pay their workers low wages,” he said.
– Bernama
