Friday, March 11, 2011

Govt seeking MTUC’s help to resolve local labour woes

BUTTERWORTH: The Federal Government is willing to rope in the MTUC to help the country overcome a critical shortage of local workers in several sectors.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said MTUC’s input and role was crucial in resolving the acute shortage of labour.

“The Government does not want to bring in foreign workers, but there is demand from several industries, especially in the construction, restaurant and plantation sectors. These areas are facing an acute shortage.”

He said employers in such sectors are claiming that they could not engage local workers yet at the same time, the Government does not want factories or plantations to close down as it can impact the economy.

“The Government does not want to bring in foreigners. We want local workers to fill the jobs. However, we have learnt that the local workers are simply not interested. It is now a matter of supply and demand,” he said.

The Government would be happy if MTUC is willing to help address the issue, he said.

Dr Subramaniam said this after making a site visit to the Sri Muniswarar Temple at Prai here yesterday.

Commenting on the MyDaftar campaign for Indians who faced problems over documents related to their birth certificates, Mykads and citizenship, he said that the National Registration Department (NRD) has resolved 160 cases to date since it was launched last month.

“NRD officers are sorting out the applications and we hope to resolve more cases soon.”

He said the campaign would go on for six more months.

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