Step in as recruiter, Govt told

The Star, Friday January 11, 2013

By LOH FOON FONG

foonfong@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Wanita Barisan Nasional has urged the Government to take over the role of maid recruiter for smoother operations and lower cost.

Its chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said it objected to the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies’ (Papa) suggestion for the cost to be fixed at RM6,700 per Indonesian maid.

“We want it managed government-to-government as this will contain cost,” she said at a press conference yesterday.

Shahrizat said the cost be fixed between RM3,000 and RM4,000.

Papa announced on Jan 4 that the Govern-ment had given it the green light to raise the recruitment fees for Indonesian domestic workers from the RM4,511 previously decided in the MoU between Indonesia and Malaysia in 2011.

Besides the new fee, employers would also have to pay an additional RM1,800, which could be deducted from the worker’s salary over the first six months of the contract.

Shahrizat said Wanita BN had been visiting families in households and the feedback received was that the fee was too high and would burden women and their families.

Asked if the fees should be capped instead of the Government taking over the recruitment, Shahrizat said it would be good to cap fees but they still thought that government-to-government dealing would be best.

The Malaysian Maid Employers Association (Mama) president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein said he agreed with Wanita Barisan as it could lead to lower cost and better efficiency.

Papa president Jeffrey Foo said the issue had been deliberated between the Government and Papa for some time and declined to comment on the deal.