Selangor Studying Other Methods Of Imposing Fees On Foreign Workers

May 01, 2008 00:24 AM

SHAH ALAM, May 1 (Bernama)

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the state government is studying other methods of charging foreign workers staying in the state, although the levy cannot be imposed following protest from other quarters.

He said the measures that could be taken with regard to foreign workers such as imposing tax on the use of premises they were staying in and its implementation would be left to the local authorities (PBT).

"Although it cannot be called a levy, I feel a little tax on the use of premises can be imposed to enable us to know the number of foreign workers living in Selangor and to determine the utilisation of real estate, housing and accommodation for these workers," he said here Wednesday.

He disclosed this to reporters after attending a function to show appreciation to sponsors for the Selangor Contingent to the Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2008 in Terengganu from May 31 to June 9.

On March 26, Abdul Khalid had proposed the imposition of a levy of RM10 per month on employers for each foreign worker engaged.

However, the Human Resource Ministry described the ruling as contradicting the policy of the federal government which issued the permit for the entry of foreign workers.

Abdul Khalid said although the state government did not have the power to formulate laws, it had the power to impose a levy on employers engaging foreign workers.

Commenting further, the Menteri Besar said it was estimated that there were 1.5 million foreign workers in the state, which represented 30 per cent of the total of four million resident population of Selangor.

"The figure is significant and we cannot determine the number of these workers residing in a particular location, their occupation, whereas these figures are important for Selangor to draw up plans for manpower," he said.