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The PAC report also found that the government was in a difficult position because it could only terminate its IT systems contract with Bestinet by mutual consent.
The Centre against Corruption and Nepotism (C4), a prominent local anti-corruption watchdog, said the government’s continued reliance on Bestinet’s Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) raises serious issues and reflects poorly on the Ministry of Interior.
“Absurdly, on June 24, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced the government’s decision to extend Bestinet’s contract for three years to operate FWCMS, even though no contract had been signed in the first place. How did the government make this decision given the numerous instances of poor governance?” C4 said in a statement.
How Anwar’s government reforms the country’s troubled workforce is being closely watched, crucial to breathing new life into the sluggish economy.
“The current government used to be in opposition, and they know what the problems are,” said Charles Santiago, a former elected lawmaker who currently sits on the government-private sector working committee that is pushing for reforms to the country’s migrant labor recruitment system.
“Overhauling our labour sector should be at the heart of the government’s agenda as abuse and misconduct have long weighed on the economy due to our reliance on cheap foreign labour and little focus on upskilling the workforce,” he said.
Labor is big business
The Labour Party is big business in Malaysia and has long been mired in the country’s opaque patronage politics.
The country has been obsessed with Cheap labor has spawned a multibillion-dollar business complex filled with companies that offer small batches or more extensive training., Through conferences and seminars.
The migrant labor recruitment system also creates opportunities for labor brokers who work with labor-exporting countries, agents who represent local employers, and so-called “runners”—individuals or companies who help with the approval process at government agencies.
In these economic sectors, HRD Corp and Bestinet enjoy unrivalled dominance.
Because of the huge sums of money involved, labor activists have long argued that the entire system of upskilling and foreign recruitment is rife with corruption, mismanagement and human rights abuses, and is backed by politicians and powerful business enterprises.
“(It is alleged) “HRD Corp and Bestinet have a long history of abuses, especially funding politically connected groups and doing things beyond their duties of skills development for workers,” N Gopal Kishnam, head of the Coalition for Labor Law Reform, a group of unions and non-governmental organizations, told CNA.
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