Work passes for stateless youths?
Published on: Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: State Community Development and Consumers Affairs Minister, Datuk Jainab Ahmad is open to the idea of providing temporary work passes to stateless youths.However, she said the matter should be brought to the Technical Management Committee on Foreign Migrants for them to deliberate and decide."Because of the many complaints we receive on the street children and loafers roaming around the city, we have come up with a committee (which was set up following the RCI report on Illegal Immigrants) to look into such matters.
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"Chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, this committee would be the most ideal to decide whether stateless youths should be given temporary work passes.She said this after the Sabah Council of Social Services (MPMS) presentation of grants to non-government organisations (NGO), Tuesday.The suggestion came from Sabah Indian Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Datuk Baisul Khan Salman Faris on Sunday, where he called for the Government to consider legalising the illegal immigrants to enable them to work.He said the current approved work passes of 1, 076 for the over 500 restaurants in the State only allows two workers per restaurant which is not adequate especially for 24-hour operating restaurants.
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Baisul, however, said he was not asking for the youths to be given citizenship, but rather a special licence to work legally.Meanwhile, Jainab called for consumers to use their rights to report traders who have increased the prices of goods tremendously.
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She said the Ministry can only properly take action on unscrupulous traders if consumers report them."The consumers need to choose wisely which shops they buy from. They need to ensure the prices are reasonable."They also should boycott shops which are pricing their goods too high and need to report these shops with proof of the price increase."We can only take action on the shops and investigate if they are pricing the goods dishonestly." She said the Ministry was continuing monitoring shops to ensure prices are reasonable adding that ultimately it is the consumers' power that helps the Ministry and authorities concerned in reprimanding dishonest traders. "Do not keep silent. Please report to us. Be a smart consumer because we depend on consumers to report these traders. We cannot do anything unless we know about it."In another development, Jainab also said that the Ministry would be holding several activities around the State namely Kota Kinabalu, Semporna, Sandakan and Kota Marudu to encourage volunteerism among the community. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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