KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 ― Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed today that a lucrative government contract to handle the online management of 1.5 million Bangladeshi migrant workers into the country was not awarded to Real Time Networking Sdn Bhd, a company belonging to his brother.
In a written Parliamentary reply to DAP lawmaker for Klang, Charles Santiago, Ahmad Zahid who is also home minister said that Putrajaya currently employs a government-to-government approach when hiring Bangladeshi workers.
However,this mechanism is only limited to the palm oil plantation sector, he added.
“The government did not appoint Real Time Networking Sdn Bhd to bring in the RM1.5 million Bangladeshi workers as claimed.
“The new mechanism later would also avoid the participation of middlemen in bringing in the Bangladeshi workers, as it is being planned to be operated online,” the Bagan Datoh MP said adding that the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers would only be used to fill in jobs which Malaysians avoid.
Zahid was responding to a query from Santiago who had asked him to state if Real Time Networking had indeed been granted the contract to bring in the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers and if a cost benefit and impact assessment was conducted on Malaysian employees should foreigners be hired to plug in the country’s workforce.
He said the government is also in discussion with its Bangladeshi counterpart in detailing a new mechanism to strengthen the current system.
The proposed project previously sparked controversy after reports claimed that the contract was to be awarded to Ahmad Zahid’s brother, businessman Datuk Abdul Hakim Hamidi.
The Home Ministry had previously denied a report claiming that Ahmad Zahid had ordered it to award a management system contract for Bangladeshi workers to his brother’s company, but had admitted to The Star daily in August that there was a “note” on the working paper submitted by Real Time Networking Sdn Bhd ― where Abdul Hakim sits as executive chairman.
The ministry did not divulge further details on the note but stressed that it did not amount to a directive or approval for the contract award.
On October 20, Ahmad Zahid named Synerflux as the ministry’s choice for the task, after ministry and immigration officials evaluated proposal letters submitted and discussed the using an online system to bring in workers from the South Asian country.
The minister noted, however, that the deal has not been finalised as Malaysia and Bangladesh work towards a final agreement on the labour deal.
