KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — DAP national chairman Lim Guan Eng today said that he is willing to accept the challenge by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan to step down from his post if the latter can prove himself blameless in the country’s labour crisis.
"I will wait for Saravanan to fix a date to address his challenge to prove that he has not delayed the recruitment of foreign labour and had addressed other related critical issues and weaknesses,” said Lim in a statement this morning.
Lim said Saravanan had challenged him to resign if he could not find any fault in the human resources minister's efforts to overcome the acute shortage of foreign workers.
Likewise, Saravanan told The Vibes on September 13 that he would resign if Lim could prove his claim.
Lim added that Saravanan should not distract attention by making baseless personal attacks, but address affected employers with "facts and figures”.
"So far, Saravanan has neither answered nor justified his pathetic 12 per cent success rate in getting foreign workers to enter Malaysia,
"This is highlighted not by me, but by the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), which estimated only 47,000 foreign workers have entered Malaysia, or 12 per cent of the approved 385,000 applicants since January 2022.”
"What is the use of Saravanan claiming that he has approved up to 400,000 migrant workers to join the workforce here when they cannot enter the country?” asked Lim.
The Bagan MP said MPOA has stated that the local palm oil industry needs 120,000 foreign workers urgently while the electrical and electronic sector (E&E) neesd an extra 30,000 workers.
"The severe worker shortage has incurred losses up to RM33.5 billion to the plantation sector, glove and auto spare parts industry.
"Other industries will also record losses up to tens of billions of ringgit. Such an egregious blunder will adversely impact the investment climate in the country,” said Lim.
