By RUBEN SARIO
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah manufacturers are suggesting a 50% reduction in the levy of foreign workers as a way of reducing the number of illegal immigrants in the state.
With just a matter of weeks before a massive crackdown against illegal immigrants gets underway in the state, the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) said the present levy for foreign workers was simply too high.
Citing an example, FSM president Datuk Wong Ken Thau said the annual levy for a worker in either the manufacturing and construction sectors was about RM2,000.
"The heavy levy is one of the reasons why many foreign workers are in the state illegally," he said Saturday after a briefing on the SME Recognition Award 2008 here.
He said a reduction by up to half of the present amount would encourage employers to ensure that their foreign workers were properly registered and documented.
Wong said Sabah employers needed foreign workers as locals were still shying away from menial jobs. "Foreign workers also have the necessary skills that are needed here," Wong added.
On the impending crackdown, he said no one should interfere in the exercise as the federal authorities were carrying it out in response to calls by various groups in Sabah who had expressed their concerns over the large number of foreigners in the state.
