Indonesia workers losing out

V.K. Chin, The Star, Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia

It is impressive that an agreement to recruit 100,000 Pakistanis to meet the shortage of workers in several sectors should be signed so soon. This shows that there are other governments which are prepared to offer their citizens to help Malaysia.

Since the labor woes are serious in several key sectors, it is important that the administrative and physical process to handle such a huge number of workers should be speeded up as the plantation, construction and manufacturing sectors are facing a production crisis due to the lack of workers.

This may not be as simple as it appears at first glance as much work will have to be done to match the workers and their prospective employers, who must put forward their needs urgently.

As the government is not sure of the exact requirements of the employers in the different sectors, some flexibility has been shown in the agreement. For example, the Pakistanis can work in all the sectors requiring labor thus making it easier for employers to recruit them.

Both the Home and Human Resources Ministries will need to work closely to hasten the recruitment process so that the employers concerned can continue with their operations without undue delay.

The government has to take quick action to fill up the vacancies since it has found great difficulty in getting the Indonesians who returned home during the amnesty period to come back as legal workers.

The government and the employers cannot wait indefinitely for the return of these workers who are mainly engaged in the construction, plantation and agriculture sectors, whose production has been seriously affected by the labor shortage.

It will mean that Indonesians will lose out in these sectors where they used to make up the majority of the workers. This will be serious food for thought for the Indonesian government and it will have a significant impact on their economy and employment situation as well.

This is the price the Indonesian side will have to pay for its red tape and the greed of some of its people to make some quick money out of the whole exercise.

It shows that they are no longer the only player and that they have tested Malaysia's patience even though Kuala Lumpur would like to give priority to Indonesian workers to help them out.

But since they have spurned this good intention, they have lost out in the race for the time being. Hopefully this latest development will spur the Indonesian government to act quickly in allowing their nationals to return to Malaysia as quickly as possible.

The door is still being held open for them as Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid has said the government would not be seeking workers from other countries for the time being.

But if Indonesian officials still think that they hold the trump card, then Malaysia will have no choice but to look for workers from other countries to fill the labor void.