Nation
Thursday January 17, 2008
New insurance for maids
By V.P. SUJATA
PUTRAJAYA: Employers will have to make sure their foreign maids are insured under a new scheme to be launched by the Government at the end of the month.
The annual RM75 takaful insurance coverage to be administered by a government-linked company will cover accidents, death and healthcare.
Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the move would be good news for Indonesian maids who make up the bulk of the 370,000 maids in the country.
"With the move, Indonesian maid agencies would also be able to supply maids with ease," he said, adding that the move was according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Malaysia and Indonesia some time ago.
He added that the MoU would be subjected to more reviews to ensure maids have confidence working in Malaysia.
Radzi said the groundwork on the terms and conditions of the insurance scheme was ready and that all questions would be answered during the launch of the scheme.
The ministry will also propose to the Cabinet the segregation of foreign workers according to nationality and sector, as a way of reducing the number of foreign workers in the country, said Radzi.
He said certain sectors would also be reserved for Malaysians, adding that the proposal would be submitted in two weeks' time.
"For example, if we stipulate that barbers should be from India only, then other nationalities will not be permitted to work as barbers," he said, adding that the Cabinet would make the final decision.
Foreign workers in Malaysia, numbering nearly two million, come from 12 countries, he said.
Radzi also said that the ministry had started issuing the new identity card for foreign workers, called the I-Kad, which they would have to carry with them at all times.
"With the I-Kad, they need not carry their passports with them anymore," he told reporters after a post-Cabinet meeting here yesterday.
Employers, he said, could start applying for the I-Kad, which contained 17 security features, for their workers at the various Immigration Departments by producing two passport-sized photographs of their workers with a white background.
"So far, 80% and 90% of foreign students and expatriates respectively have been issued with the card and we are hopeful of issuing the card to all foreign workers by the end of this year," he said, adding that employers could also apply for the I-Kad when renewing their workers' permits.
The colours of the I-Kad would differ for each sector the workers are employed in, he said, adding that all new workers entering the country would be issued the I-Kad.
