Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said in a press conference yesterday (25 November) that the minimum standards for workers’ dormitories and facilities will be implemented starting 26 November, in accordance with the Minimum Standards of Housing and Employment Facilities Act 1990 (Act 446).
If these dormitories and facilities are found to be overcrowded or to have failed to meet the standards, employers can be fined up to RM50,000 per foreign worker.
“If 10 foreign workers live in dormitories that do not meet the standards, the employer will be fined up to RM500,000,” he said.
This comes after he announced that all foreign workers in the country are to be tested for Covid-19 using the RTK-antigen method through a program conducted by the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR).
This amounts to a total of 1.7 million foreign workers in the country. However, the MOHR will formulate a timetable for the first batch workers that will be tested within four to six weeks.
The first batch includes 888,342 people in Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Sabah, reported Harian Metro.
“The Social Security Organization (Socso) will bear the cost of RM60 for each screening test,” Ismail Sabri said.
“The MOHR and Socso will coordinate screening tests for foreign workers from various aspects including the number of employees, clinic and laboratory facilities, screening test costs.”
Ismail Sabri added that it is best for employers to take the initiative to get their employees tested for Covid-19. Although this will cost money, this will help prevent huge factories from shutting down due to the pandemic outbreak in the country, reported China Press.
On 24 November, Malaysia recorded its largest spike of 2,188 Covid-19 cases, with 1,623 cases detected from the Teratai Cluster in Selangor. This comes after almost 3,000 Top Glove employees tested positive for the virus since November 17 and 28 of their factories were ordered to shut down temporarily by MKN.
