KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Almost 80 per cent of the labour shortage in the plantation industry has been resolved so far with the remaining under way, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Fadillah, who is also the Plantation and Commodities Minister, said the labour shortage, however, remained challenging in certain parts of the country such as Sarawak.
“We are almost there. I think it’s almost like 80 per cent now but the challenge will be in certain parts, for example Sarawak, because it is not receiving or accepting Bangladeshis to work there.
“So, definitely there are challenges in getting more Indonesians to come in but in terms of (labour) application approvals, it has been almost 100 per cent achieved,” he told reporters after launching the People Positive Palm Project (P3 Project) here today.
He said the challenge was to bring in people from the source countries because their practices, rules and regulations were beyond the Malaysian government’s control.
Meanwhile, Fadillah stressed the importance of Malaysia engaging the international communities, whether consultants or industry players, and meeting the regional and international standards and practices.
He said the international standards must be recognised for industry players to fulfil the expectations of those buying Malaysian products or services.
