MPIC and Margma all set to combat forced labour

by ANIS HAZIM / pic by BLOOMBERG

MALAYSIA does not have sufficient manpower for harvesting jobs in the oil palm plantations, said the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC).

According to MPIC undersecretary Syahnaz Akhtar Mat Ali said the ministry’s efforts to attract local workers for harvesting jobs were hampered by the job scope which was deemed unattractive by the locals.

The negative perception had adversely affected the industry, resulting in players having to seek more foreign labour.

“To address the labour shortage issue in the oil palm industry, the government has given special approval to recruit 32,000 foreign workers as part of a pilot project to bring these workers to the country,” Syahnaz said during the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) Trafficking in Persons’ (TIP) project launch yesterday.

He added that the issue of forced labour and child labour issues have further complicated the hiring of foreign workers in the oil palm industry.

He added that the MPIC is engaging with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to combat and address these issues. Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) president Dr Supramaniam Shanmugam, who also presented at the project launch, said eradicating forced labour issues has tainted the rubber glove industry image.

“The rubber glove industry is dedicated to raise the bars of meeting social compliance and support the project objectives of providing training to internal industry and third-party auditors in understanding the dynamics of TIP and labour compliances related to ILO,” he said.

The industry is currently undergoing four levels of audits, including internal audits, customer-driven audits, independent third-party audits and government audits by Ministry of Human Resources.

“We also have an industry code of conduct, and all its members have agreed to adopt the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit,” he noted.

The environmental, social and governance (ESG) unit within Margma has been counselling and educating members via onsite visits and webinars on the required compliances.

At the same time, Margma is calling out to have a common yardstick and understanding on social compliances among ILO, employees, employers, the Malaysian government and source countries.

“We, at Margma, are committed to be the role model for sensitising employers, and the industry as a whole is already dedicated to ESG best practices,” he added.

To support the industry concerned on the issue, UNM with the support of the British High Commission’s International Programme Fund has launched the “Enhancement of Manufacturing and Oil-Palm Third Party Audits Compliance and Due Diligence with Certification Bodies: project under its TIP initiative”.