Today, Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar gave a very disappointing answer to my question on why MyEG was given the contact to renew migrant worker work permit when another company NERS Sdn. Bhd. was already awarded a 12-year contract to do similar work
NERS Sdn. Bhd. not only is responsible to record and monitor the immigration of foreigners to Malaysia but also to issue the Visit Pass (Temporary Employment) or Pas Lawatan (Kerja Sementara) (PLKS). For each PLKS issued, the government will pay NERS Sdn. Bhd. RM50.
The Home Ministry (Immigration Department) has to pay NERS RM100 million in 2015 Budget, RM75 million in 2014 Budget and RM105.3 million in 2013.
In early January 2015, MyEG was awarded the contract by the federal government to be the sole PLKS renewal service provider through their online platform. On top of the RM125 processing fee to be remitted to Immigration Department, MyEG will collect RM38 for each transaction done.
Why appoint another contractor when we already have a 12-year contract with NERS
The Deputy Minister first said the two companies have different roles, but the fact is the government is already paying NERS Sdn. Bhd. hundreds of millions in the past few years to issue the PLKS. Why can’t NERS also be tasked to do the renewal instead of letting another company pocket another few hundred millions to do the task?
Why can’t Immigration Department itself provide online renewal service?
Secondly, the Deputy Minister gave a very lame excuse, saying MyEG was given the job to do the online permit renewal as part of the federal government’s computerisation and IT strategy.
If such is the case, why not let the Immigration Department itself provide such service? In other words, why not computerise this process within the Department instead of allowing a middle-man to come in to earn easy money?
In fact, as it is, the Immigration Department is already providing online application services including for Professional Visit Pass (PVP), foreign maids, student pass, residence pass and others.
Crushing many little worms in favour of one big fat worm
Thirdly, the Deputy Minister said that the move to computerise and make the renewal application online will put an end to the operation of “ulat-ulat” (worms), presumably a reference to agents and runners who act as middlemen to deal with the Immigration Department. According to a statement by MyEG, these middlemen may earn between RM200-300 per transaction. (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/threatened-by-unhappy-tontos-myeg-staff-lodge-police-reports)
What the Deputy Minister seemed to miss is that the government is effectively crushing all other middlemen in favour of ONE middleman. By pocketing RM38 per transaction and being the sole monopoly of this service, MyEG is expected to earn RM100 million a year. On top of that, MyEG is also expected to receive billions of ringgit annually in processing fees before remitting it to the government.
Government desperate attempt to justify MyEG’s appointment is ugly
In late January this year, the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has initiated investigations into the claims of monopoly against MyEG on this issue. After the investigation by MyCC and numerous criticisms from the opposition and industry players, the government finally came out to clarify that MyEG is still not finalised as the sole company to do the renewal. (http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/putrajaya-says-yet-to-confirm-myeg-appointment-for-foreign-worker-permit-re).
This flip flop and the Deputy Minister’s parliamentary answer today look like a desperate attempt by the government to justify MyEG’s appointment. This is akin to defending the indefensible.
What the government should do now is to terminate MyEG’s appointment and then to have the Immigration Department provide the online service like the other online services they are already providing.