Spot checks on farms continue

By Azlan Othman

Police and labour officers conducting joint operations.

Like the last seven operations, the spot check codenamed "Operasi Sinar 8", focussed on foreign workers who violated the immigration rules and regulations and took a closer look at the welfare of the foreign workers employed to work in these farms, their living quarters and salaries.

Six areas were visited yesterday morning by 12 police CID's led by DSP Hj Mohd Hassan Pehin Ahmad, Assistant OCPD of the Jerudong Police District and seven labour enforcement officers led by Rosli Matnoor, Senior Labour Inspector.

Eighteen workers were questioned including 16 Indonesians and two Taiwanese construction workers, who were later brought to the police station for failing to show their valid immigration documents.

No case of salary discrepancy was detected.

However, in one of the sites inspected, the labour department found garbage being dumped close to the living quarters, an offence under section 60 of the labour act.

The act states that garbage should be disposed 100 feet away from the quarters. The workers were asked to clear the mess within a week.

At one of the sites inspected, the labour department officers also found out that construction activities were conducted at the farm sites, which is a violation of the law.

Police reminds employers who retain their employees' passports to give the passport copies to their employees together with details of the guarantees and original identity cards that must be brought along at all times.