Is the outsourcing of foreign worker permit renewal, project AES 2 in the making? Why does Putrajaya need to outsource the foreign worker permit renewal to an UMNO-linked company when Malaysia has a 1.4 million-strong civil service which is the biggest in Asia Pacific?

Putrajaya must immediately explain its decision to outsource the foreign worker permit renewal project to Myeg which will rake in a windfall of RM100 million for the company. When Malaysia has a 1.4 million-strong civil service, why do we still need to outsource services which should be provided by the civil servants to private firms?

Is the outsourcing of foreign worker permit renewal, project AES 2 in the making, where a public service is outsourced to a private firm to rake in million of dollars?

Worst still, this lucrative contract is directly awarded without an open tender to an UMNO-linked company. Myeg Executive Chairman Dato’ Dr Noraesah was a member of UMNO Supreme Council from 2000 – 2013. She was also appointed a Senator from 2005 – 2008. The Company’s executive director Dato’ Raja Munir Shah was the head of the Tanjung UMNO Youth Division in 1997 and subsequently appointed as the state UMNO Youth Information Chief until his tenure ended in 2004.

Dato’ Dr Noraesah holds 6.6 million shares and Dato’ Raja Munir Shah holds 188.4 million shares in Myeg either directly and indirectly. The total number of shares hold between them represents 33% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Putrajaya must immediately explain why the need to outsource a service which was previously free of charge to an UMNO-link company which is now charging the employers RM38 for the portal fees for each worker. For foreign worker with FOMEMA registration, additional RM20 needs to be paid to Myeg. With 2.3 million of foreign workers, this would bring a potentially RM100 million of windfall to Myeg overnight.

The breakdown of the fees payable to Myeg is as below

1. Foreign workers permit renewal only – RM38 per worker
2. Foreign workers permit renewal and FOMEMA registration – RM58 per worker
3. Skim Perlindungan Insuran Kesihatan – RM127.20 per worker
4. Skim Pampasan Pekerja Asing – RM76.02 per worker
5. Insurance Guarantee/Bank Guarantee – Minimum RM50 per policy

Myeg will processed all insurance scheme with RHB Insurance.

On behalf of the public, I will be writing to the home minister to seek for a reasonable explanation on the decision to outsource the foreign worker permit renewal function to a private firm. The four big questions that the home minister must answer are as follow:

1. Why does Putrajaya need to outsource a government civil service to a private company?
2. Why is there no open tender when awarding this lucrative contract?
3. Why is RHB Insurance the sole insurer for this scheme?
4. Why does the people need to pay Myeg when the service was provided free of charge by the Immigration previously?

If Putrajaya insist on outsourcing one of the functions of the Immigration Department, it should be the Immigration Department who should be paying Myeg, not the people; as this would make the people ended up double paying.

The people has paid their taxes and deserved to enjoy the service from government agencies. There is absolutely no excuse to force the people to pay a private company for a service which should be provided by the civil service.