KUALA LUMPUR: THE government has no plans to extend the status of migrant workers under the 6P programme, although it is looking at alternatives to resolve the issue.
“We are looking into the matter and considering alternatives. It is too early to tell,” Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said.
“We will announce (the matter) in due time,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Nur Jazlan was asked whether the ministry would entertain employers’ appeal for an extension of the status of their foreign workers, whose permits under the 6P programme will expire at the end of the year.
Deputy director-general of Immigration (Control) Datuk Sakib Kusmi said employers must ensure their workers were despatched to their home country as soon as their permits end.
“These workers can re-enter the country after a 5-year cooling period if they are not blacklisted,” he said, adding that the workers could apply for the cooling period to be shortened.
The Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) and 26 other
construction trade groups had
appealed to the government to
look into the problem, or else by January next year, some 100,000 workers registered under the programme would have to return to their homeland or become illegal immigrants.
MBAM president Matthew Tee said these workers were skilled workers due to extensive working experience in the construction industry and their detachment would not only lead to the already critical shortage of labour, but also affect the continuity of construction projects nationwide.