PUTRAJAYA, Feb 28 — The Human Resources Ministry has proposed the implementation of eWages as a salary monitoring system for foreign workers, said its minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan.

"The eWages initiative will be implemented soon to monitor prompt payment of wages to foreign workers,” he said in a statement today on the management of foreign workers, adding that the proposed system was agreed by the Cabinet on January 12 this year.

Saravanan said as a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Malaysia strictly observed its 11 indicators on forced labour which also cover the aspect of conducive living conditions for workers.

The ministry has made it compulsory for employers to fully comply with the Standard Minimum of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) as a mandatory requirement to employ foreign workers, he said.

"Moving forward, the ministry is in the midst of planning to regulate and introduce a Centralised Labour Quarters (CLQ) within a span of five years for an effective and coordinated supervision of foreign workers,” he said.

Saravanan said his ministry was in the process of concluding the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Indonesian Domestic Workers after getting the official nod from the Cabinet on February 23.

The MoUs with Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Sri Lanka are currently in the final stages of discussion, all of which have lapsed during the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

He said that so far the ministry has concluded and signed MoUs with 10 source countries and is in the midst of finalising the MoUs that have expired. — Bernama