KAPIT, June 14 — Contractors carrying out projects for Baleh Dam’s construction have been told to give priority to hiring local workers.
Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Gerawat Gala said skilled and professional roles especially should be offered to locals.
“Locals are no less skilled and knowledgeable than foreign workers. Our educational institutions and skills training centres have produced many skilled and knowledgeable people.
“If we’re talking about work experience, give local people the opportunity to gain that work experience; surely they will be able to master the skills in a very short period of time,” he said during the MYFutureJobs 2023 Youth Careers Carnival Programme here on Tuesday.
He stressed that employers cannot depend too much on foreign workers and must prioritise job opportunities for locals instead.
Gerawat was responding to concerns that the Baleh Dam project was being flooded by foreign workers with no opportunities for locals.
He pointed out that some 600 of the 1,700 workers on the Baleh Dam project are locals, while the rest are from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and China.
He praised the Sarawak Labour Department and Social Security Organisation (Socso) for taking the initiative to invite employers involved in Baleh Dam construction projects to hold job interviews at the carnival for local workers.
According to a handout statement, application statistics from contractors involved in the Baleh Dam’s construction showed that 2,895 Approval in Principle (APs) for foreign workers had been approved but only 806 APs have been used.
AP applications from two major contractors for the project from 2021 to 2023 involved 3,600 job opportunities.
Among the efforts made by employers to hire local workers were to hold a series of seven interview sessions from 2021 to 2022, where 340 local jobseekers were interviewed and 48 were offered job opportunities including in executive and skilled positions. — Borneo Post Online
