TAWAU: Sri Tanjung assemblyman Jimmy Wong has asked the Immigration Department to be more professional when carrying out operations at estates and business premises.
He said employers would suffer income losses when their foreign workers were roped in for screening even though some have documents to prove the validity of their employment.
Jimmy made the call when he received many complaints from employers from various sectors who incurred losses after their workers were detained for screening at temporary detention centers.
“A palm oil estate owner in Kunak recently suffered unnecessary losses after his workers who have documents were taken away for screening and only released after two to three days,” he said on Saturday after contributing sacrificial cows to Kampung Jawa, Kampung Bukit, Kampung Saddhani and Kampung Baru for their Hari Raya Haji celebration.
Jimmy said he was surprised that the immigration officers in Kunak when carrying out the operation could not distinguish whether the documents issued to foreign workers by their department were fakes or not.
“The immigration officers went to this estate and they were showed the workers’ documents issued by the department during the check, but the officers after checking them still told the workers to board the lorry to be taken to screening center. The workers only returned after two days. The estate owner incurred loss as there were no workers to harvest the oil palm fruits and thieves also stole his fruits as they were not harvested,” he said.
He added many estate owners were angry with the department as its officers could not determine whether the documents were fake or not on the spot.
“How could the department officers could not determine their own documents such as worker permit and passport are fake or not? There is no standard or are they inexperienced? Always the suspicion, so what is the use of the documents? Does this means there are many falsified documents out there?” he asked.
Jimmy who is also the Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sabah chairman, said the operations had caused inconvenience and losses to owners.
“I hope the Immigration Department will carry out its operation in a professional way. Don’t show you are ignorant to your own documents. Ensure experienced officers lead the operation. To the people the department is a mockery to itself, thus the department must improve the ways it conducts operation on foreign workers,” he added.