KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 ― DAP's Lim Guan Eng asked those facing difficulties in getting approvals for their foreign workers to lodge a complaint with his aide.

He was referring to those whose complaints to the Human Resources Ministry do not receive a response within a week.

In a statement, Lim said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan had given an assurance that all complaints lodged through the ministry's Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia's (JTKSM) existing channel will be responded to within seven days.

He added if the seven-days period lapsed without any response, complainants are to lodge a direct complaint to three officers namely, Hasmiza Hassan (hasmiza@mohr.gov.my) from the One Stop Centre Bahagian Pengurusan Pekerja Migran (BPPM); Nurafezah Jaafar (nurafezah@mohr.gov.my) from JKTSM or Shukri (shukri@bestinet.com.my) from Bestinet.

"Complainants should ignore any third parties who somehow know of their complaints and claim to be able to resolve their problems for a fee.

"If there is still no response, the public or employers can complain to my officer at tankhongchong80@gmail.com, for us to pursue directly with the ministry,” Lim said in a statement.

Lim noted that Saravanan had also agreed to DAP's suggestion of decentralisation to the respective states instead of just the Klang Valley, before urging the ministry to implement said measures quickly.

"One of the most glaring weaknesses is the failure to get foreign workers to come in after approval has been given.

"This failure is the principal reason for the current severe shortage of foreign workers that has adversely affected not just entire industries but also the operations of SMEs, smallholders and hawkers,” he said.