Levies for Foreign Constructions Workers Should be Reasonable

Petaling Jaya, 21 May 2010

REHDA notes the intent of the Government to reduce the nation’s dependency on foreign labour by raising the levies beginning next year, as announced by the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Labour and Illegal Foreign Workers Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

REHDA President, Datuk Ng Seing Liong, however, cautioned that such a move will have a severe impact on the construction and property industry

“The Malaysian construction and property industry relies heavily on foreign workers, but not by choice,” he said. Datuk Ng further explained that supply of local workers is practically non-existent as far as the industry is concerned and the levy increase will be punitive to the sector, which has contributed significantly to the economy and the GDP.

“The steady growth of the construction industry over the years has been well-supported by the availability of adequate workforce in the industry. The proposed increase will definitely hit the industry as there is no ready supply of local workforce,” he added.

The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has been tasked to train Malaysian workers to take over construction works in the country in order to reduce dependency on foreign labour. The results, however, have not been felt across the sector and are insufficient to support the entire construction industry. The Association urges the Government to first ensure that the pool of local construction workers is sufficient and reliable for the industry.

REHDA is in full support of the Industrialised Building System (IBS) and hopes that this will be properly implemented in the industry first to ensure that any decline in the number of foreign workers numbers will not be detrimental to the industry. The Association urges the Government to look into effective ways to properly promote and incentivise the adoption of IBS.

REHDA believes that until these areas are properly attended to, the construction sector will remain dependent on foreign workers in the construction sector.

Issued by:

Datuk Ng Seing Liong, PJN, JP
拿督黃騰亮 太平局紳
President
Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia