Foreign workers in oil palm sector to get another five years

Foreign workers in oil palm sector to get another five years
Tuesday June 1, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign workers who have been employed in the oil palm plantation sector for five years will be allowed to have their permits renewed for another five years to overcome the issue of labour shortage, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the Go­­vernment was concerned over this problem. “The Government is aware that if drastic early measures are not taken, it would jeopardise the productivity and competitiveness of this sub-sector,” he said in a statement here yesterday. Muhyiddin added that plantation was still one of the sectors in the country which was labour-intensive and the lack of participation among the locals had caused it to employ many foreign workers.

According to research conducted by a few agencies under the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry last year, the number of foreigners working in the plantation sector was 520,449 people or 52% of its total workforce. — Bernama