KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — Westlite Accommodation Malaysia (Westlite) plans to expand its Purpose-Built Workers Accommodation (PBWA) in the country to cater for the growing needs of multinational companies and human resources agents for foreign workers.
Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Corporation Limited, which owns Westlite, Kong Chee Min said the cooperation’s objective is to grow bigger and expand its services across many other states in Malaysia based on demand for accommodation as well as economic factors.
“We would love to work with state governments, property owners who have buildings and land owners who wish to look at workers’ accommodation (services),” he told reporters after a presentation on Westlite Accommodation here, today.
Currently, Westlite’s Malaysian portfolio comprises eight Westlite Accommodation properties located across Johor, Penang and Selangor with the highest number of foreign workers in the manufacturing sector contributing to around 35 per cent of the country’s estimated two million odd foreign workforce.
“In 2Q (second quarter of) 2022, asset enhancement works carried out at Westlite Tebrau for instance added 688 beds to the portfolio. With more employers including SMEs striving to comply with Act 446, we expect to see a growth in demand for high-quality, thoughtfully constructed and professionally managed worker accommodations.
“This would also benefit the human resource agents who now need to ensure that they are adequately housing the foreign workers whom they bring into Malaysia,” said Kong in a statement issued by Westlite.
Meanwhile, Deputy Head, Workers Accommodation Country Head, Malaysia, Alfred Lee said there are two types of accommodation offered namely dorm-type accommodation and non-dorm type accommodation (apartment) with rates ranging between RM180 to RM250 per month.
Alfred Lee said the number of residents in the house depends on the size of the dorm and the apartment.
Centurion Corporation Limited’s Head of Corporate Communications David Phey said as of 30th June, the company manages a portfolio of 25,099 beds across eight PBWA assets in Malaysia and 33,898 beds across nine operating PBWA assets in Singapore.
He said Westlite serves organisations from diverse industries, and possesses more than 1,490 customers in both countries, ranging from construction, oil and gas, manufacturing, marine, engineering, commercial, and service industry.
Westlite is a Singapore-based multi-national company that manages worker accommodation with properties in Johor, Selangor, Penang and Singapore. — Bernama
