PETALING JAYA: Activists have urged authorities to investigate the employers of construction workers who were photographed being at work while still under quarantine.
In a series of pictures that have since gone viral, a group of construction workers wearing pink wristbands were seen working as usual at an undisclosed construction site.
Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das said social isolation was not feasible for migrant workers who were suspected or diagnosed with Covid-19, as most of them live in cramped rooms or have deadlines to finish a construction project.
“Despite the many incidences and clusters in construction areas, manufacturers like Top Glove, plantations, and also other industries continue to place the workers in such dangerous situations,” she said.
She questioned why enforcement authorities were not monitoring and taking action against employers and companies from these sectors.
“Why isn’t the government ensuring enforcement, with regular supervision and monitoring?
“Industries and sectors are deeply immersed in making profits off the backs of these workers and they will certainly not change their ways. To them, protecting their workers or victims through ‘social distancing’ and other forms of health-related prevention will be unfamiliar or simply not their priority.
“So it is of little concern to them if their workers, working in cramped and unhygienic quarters, become infected with Covid-19.”
Meanwhile, Adrian Pereira from the North-South Initiative said it was vital that the matter was investigated for compliance breaches by the health ministry, National Security Council (MKN) and Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) because the consequences would be severe and could cause a collapse of the local industrial sectors.
“Migrant workers whose health and lives are put at risk with such working conditions can be considered victims of forced labour,” he said.
