Immigrant Labour Could Cause Syphilis, Malaria And Other Diseases, Says Report
By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan – The ugly incident at the garment factory this week where 300 workers ran riot brings up a number of questions many people here have been asking.

The cardinal inquiry in many a mind is whether Brunei needs such type of labour intensive ventures. They point out such industries do not solve the local employment problem. Cheap overseas labour, in fact, keep the local wages depressed, they argue.

The opponents of such businesses say these are the worst examples of Ali Baba type of operations, which would do long term damage to the economic well being of the nation.

They point out most of the income derived from these factories are diverted to the real factory owners in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and Brunei’s Ali Babas get a comparatively small directors' fees for their services.

Their services being the use of their name for the required quotas and whatever influence their names may carry.

Apart from that, there is very little benefit for Brunei because the lowly paid foreign labours, unlike the construction workers, have hardly any spending power to make an impact on local shops.

In fact there is also the threat of the spread of diseases.

For example Associated Press reports from Bangkok that Thailand is worried about the threat of diseases from foreigners.

The report, quoting senior health officials, says that migrant workers from neighbouring countries are posing a serious health threat to Thailand as many are infected with contagious diseases wiped out several years ago.    

The rate of infections among alien workers is “alarmingly high”, and several diseases could make a comeback, the report adds.

The diseases include syphilis, tuberculosis, elephantiasis and malaria.

True enough, the Brunei health authorities check the workers, but that is not 100 percent fool proof. Undetected dormant cases may very well slip through and cause problems, some people in the sultanate worry.

Indeed the lifestyles of these immigrant workers also pose a problem.

Recently the distressed landlords of a row of shops in Kampong Kapok, in Muara, approached the Brudirect.com with some alarming news protesting about the “mass occupation of foreign workers” at Bangunan Haji Awang Besar, in Muara.

A copy of the letter the landlords wrote to the Senior Medical Officer of Health,  said two floors of two shops were rented to well over 100 foreign workers as dwelling quarters.

“At every floor there is only one shower and one toilet which are shared by dozens of workers. The result was an unavoidable foul smell polluting the whole shop complex,” the letter, of which copies were sent to the Muara-Brunei District Office, Town and Country Planning Department, Fire Service Department and Labour and Immigration Departments, remarked.

Neighbours also complained and many businesses operating down the block closed.

One mini-mart operator said, “They used to flood my shop in droves. But they never bought anything. They only frightened other customers away. So I closed the shop and moved away.” That shop, like many others, is still unoccupied.

There was also another problem: Uncollected rubbish began to pile up around the block and that compounded the matter.

In a further letter to the authorities, the landlords complained about the large number of flies, rats, stray dogs, cats, fleas and cockroaches, which could “eventually spread unwelcome diseases such as cholera and diarrhea.” 

There were also complaints about the improper attire of the foreign workers who wandered about the area.

“On most occasions hundreds of shirtless males, clad only in sarong and many a time only wearing underwear was a situation that our wives and daughters would be too embarrassed to face,” complained the letter.

To add to the many category of ills, hundreds of workers also used the car park as toilets and shamelessly relieved themselves in public each morning after brushing their teeth in full view of all.  Human feces were also deposited in plastic bags and dumped all round.

As the result of the vehement complaints, many of the workers were relocated. But some are still there.

But the point is that the workers are being brought to Brunei and they face inhuman conditions and whether it is worth having such labour intensive industries where accusations of “slave labour” are constantly made.

The opponents who argue against garments factories in Brunei seem to have a strong case that the sultanate should not encourage this sort of “dirty” industry in the country.

The problem of large employment commissions resulting in corrupt practices involving agents on both sides, and some employers and their people getting “kick backs” from the poor workers whose salaries are deducted monthly to pay the sharks, seems another reason against these industries being in Brunei.

Singapore, for example, has strictly discouraged garment manufacturing for some of the above reasons, the opponents say.

But supporters of these ventures say  Brunei is gaining much because it provides subsidiary employment to the shipping industry as the manufactured goods use Muara Port.

Bales of raw material are also brought in the same way.

The workers’ movements also said the sluggish airline industry and local shops also gain when the workers buy their simple necessities.

Buses are also kept going, which the foreign workers use regularly.

The telecommunications also make money as the workers phone back home. Of course, there are other plus factors that benefit the country.

But concerned observers say that whatever the pros and cons of the situation that may exist, a stricter watch should be kept on the garment factories in particular as Brunei cannot afford to have another incident like that on Wednesday.

Of course, Brunei must have industries and foreign investment, many agree. But the general feeling is that the country should be more selective.

Singapore could be taken as a general guideline, observers comment.

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