GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government's plans for the construction of foreign workers' hostels to house some 50,000 people on three plots of land in Teluk Kumbar near here, may to open up room for a new "colonisation" of traditional villages there.
Pertubuhan Badan Pemikir Melayu Pulau Pinang (Pemikir) chairman Datuk Dr Muhamad Farid Saad said the proposal for the construction of the workers' hostels there was an "evil plan" to ruin the peace and harmony of the villages and the life of the people there.
He said for 50,000 foreign workers to live in a village inhabited by around 10,000 people now was a social injustice to the locals.
"Would the state leaders feel at peace if such workers' hostels are built next to their houses? There will be too many social factors 'haunting' the locals there, especially in terms of health, safety, traffic congestion and other social impacts.
"Any development must take into account the wellbeing of the local community. Certainly, the presence of some 50,000 foreign workers will not guarantee the wellbeing of the locals," he said today.
It was recently reported that local residents had objected to the construction of the foreign workers' hostels in their backyard. They had made known their objections to their elected representative, Azrul Mahathir Aziz, the assemblyman for Bayan Lepas.
Earlier this month, the Village Community Management Council in the area was invited to attend a virtual meeting about the project.
Elaborating, Farid said post-Covid-19 pandemic had shown high cases of unemployment among locals.
As such, he asked why locals were not given the opportunity to be retrained to adapt their skills to the needs of the industry.
"The plan for the workers' hostel shows that the state government prioritises employment for foreign workers rather than the locals. It clearly shows the failure of the state government in planning for the future of the younger generation in the state.
"It also clearly shows the extreme reliance on foreign workers in shaping the future industry of the state. Such acts do not directly benefit the development of the state and nation's human capital," he added, noting that the state government should work together in developing the state by giving priority to locals and not foreigners.
This, he stressed, was important to ensure the sustainability of the state's development, in line with Penang Vision 2030.
Farid said if the construction of foreign workers' hostels was something needed, then he urged the state government, through the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), to build hostels for 50,000 foreign workers in the area that had been zoned as an industrial zone in Batu Kawan, which is still vast and ready to be developed.
"Don't continue the construction of foreign workers' hostels in Teluk Kumbar. Land in the Batu Kawan Industrial Estate can be selected and the workers' hostels can be built there. The location of the site near the second bridge will connect the two industrial areas on the island and mainland," he said.
On Jan 10 last year, the state government announced the construction of an international standard foreign workers' hostel on a 2.02ha plot of land owned by PDC in the Seberang Prai Utara Science Park involving the construction of 684 hostel units that can accommodate 12,313 people.
On Dec 25 the same year, state Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo had announced the proposed construction of foreign workers' hostels capable of accommodating 35,000 foreign workers.
The latest was the proposed construction of foreign workers' hostels that could accommodate some 50,000 people on Lots 1435 and 1437 in Bagan Teluk Kumbar; Lots 1859, 1860 and 1865 at Tingkat Teluk Kumbar and Lots 236 and 284 in Mukim 11 Bukit Belah, Sungai Batu.