LARUT, Jan 22 — No more special quotas will be given for recruitment of foreign workers in the country, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

He said every application from employers must now go through the ministry’s evaluation committee to determine the number of foreign workers eligible to be employed in accordance with the set terms and conditions.

"Whatever people may say, take note that any employer who needs to hire foreign workers must obtain the committee’s approval according to the law.

"Take the plantation sector for example, you must know the foreign worker quota and how many are eligible. Let’s say there should be 1,000 workers but because there is no sufficient accommodation, so probably you can only get 400.

"To get the additional workers you have applied for, you need to submit another application to the Human Resource Ministry (KSM) or appeal to us for a review as the process is more stringent than before,” he said after a meet-the-people session at Kampung Tapah, Sungai Bayur, near Selama today.

He was commenting on the call by National Organisation of Private Service Agencies Malaysia (PAPSMA) secretary-general Dr. Sukumaran Nair, for the government to abolish the ‘special approval’ granted to certain parties to have a monopoly on the entry of foreign workers into the country to prevent syndicates from bringing in excessive number of foreign workers.

Hamzah said if the quota system was not applied and recruitment could be carried out freely, foreign workers would simply enter the country without adhering to the conditions and criteria set, resulting in various welfare problems.

Previously, employers had to deal through the Home Ministry on the employment of foreign workers, however, currently, all such matters can be made through KSM to ensure uniformity in policies and procedures for employment of foreign workers. — Bernama