Penang Macc Refers Complaint On Bangladesh Recruitment Deal To Hq

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Penang PKR Youth confirmed that the state MACC would refer its complaint to investigate irregularities in the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers into Malaysia to the headquarters team currently handling the matter.
PKR National Youth legal bureau secretary Darwin Lim Chee Chien, who was accompanied by PKR Permatang Pauh Youth chief Fahmi Zainol and other members at the MACC Penang today, said he believed theirs was the first such official complaint filed in the state.
Citing national security concerns, their complaint urged a thorough investigation into all the players in the Bangladesh labour recruitment process into Malaysia and recommended stern action against parties found to be perpetuating irregularities with a conflict of interest.
He said their report highlighted three main concerns centred around the recruitment process of Bangladeshi workers into Malaysia, and they wanted to take the matter to the next level with an official complaint with MACC.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, Lim said they highlighted the alleged monopoly in the recruitment process, the integrity of companies involved in the process and the alleged corruption in the selection process of the companies that will carry out the recruitment.
“We also have information that there are people and companies lobbying the Human Resource Ministry to limit the number of recruitment agencies to the 25 big companies.
“The MACC should investigate for hidden agenda or cronies whose companies have been recognised to be among the limited number of Bangladeshi labour recruitment agencies by the ministry.
“I believe there were 1,300 companies that applied, but we don’t know how and why only 25 companies were awarded the recognition for recruiting workers,” he said
Lim questioned if there was any truth to the alleged special relationship between the companies and Human Resources Minister M Saravanan or other government departments.
He said that the names of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, former relevant ministers and Saravanan had been linked with the issue, which stood to threaten the integrity of the government if MACC did not fully investigate the matter.
The complaint also referred to an agency in Dhaka that alleged the founder of Bestinet Sdn Bhd, Mohd Amin Abdul Nor, had influenced the government to limit the number of agencies that supplied workers to 25.
The PKR members urged a full investigation into the 25 companies, including Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) and Bestinet.
“I understand that Bestinet supplied the Foreign Worker Centralised Management System to the government for the registration and approval process of all blue-collar migrant labour into the country and was allegedly embroiled in a conflict of interest,” Lim said in the complaint.
Labour recruitment scandal
Strengthening his reasons for the complaint, Lim also pointed out that UKSB was linked to former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s ongoing corruption trial involving the Overseas Visa System and one-stop centre service operators in China.
He said it would be a national security issue if the companies involved in labour recruitment did not meet the specified conditions and if there were irregularities in their dealings.
Last month, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim first made the call for a probe of the two companies (Bestinet and UKSB) implicated in a labour recruitment scandal.
Amid pressure from labour industry players for the market to be opened to all registered recruitment agencies in Bangladesh, Saravanan defended Malaysia’s right to make the final decision and that the limit of 25 agencies and 250 sub-agents was imposed to prevent an uncontrollable influx of workers entry.
Saravanan had also denied allegations by labour industry players that Bangladesh-born Bestinet founder Mohd Amin Abdul Nor is part of a “syndicate” to supply labour from Bangladesh to Malaysia. - Mkini

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