KUALA LUMPUR (March 14): Malaysia and Indonesia will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers involving maids this week, said Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

He said this when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address on behalf of the Human Resource Ministry on Monday (March 14).

The signing ceremony would take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, he added.

On Feb 6, the media reported that the negotiation on the recruitment and placement of Indonesian maids in Malaysia that began in 2017, failed to be completed as the MoU scheduled to be signed by both countries on Feb 8 was postponed.

In another development, Saravanan said a total of 148,300 new jobs were created through domestic investments last year, of which 109,605 or 73.9% of jobs are under the skilled and semi-skilled categories.

However, he said, some of the jobs mentioned were in the 3D sector (dirty, dangerous, difficult) which was still an issue among locals, causing the government to rely on foreign workers.

Meanwhile, Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, representing his ministry during the session said PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) and other highway concession companies have been ordered to review the need to build more motorcycle rain shelters, as well as other safer requirements for motorcyclists.  

Apart from that, he said advisory signs would be improved to increase the safety of highway users to prevent accidents.

“There are a total of 186 motorcycle rain shelters along the North-South Expressway. The locations of these rain shelters are marked on road signs on highways to direct motorcyclists to the locations safely,” he said.

The sitting continues on Tuesday (March 15).

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