According to a report in The Himalayan Times, the Nepali government fears the new system will add to the cost of spiralling visa fees for its people who are seeking employment in Malaysia.
“Soon after we got this information, we started doing our studies, particularly in terms of cost minimisation so that the new system does not add financial burden on Nepalis seeking jobs in Malaysia,” said Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, a spokesman for the Nepali Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) was quoted saying.
“But the Malaysian government has introduced the bio-medical system without taking the Nepal government into confidence.”
Buddhi Bahadur also told the English-language Nepali paper that the decision by the Malaysian embassy left government officials “confused”, as they are still uncertain whether the new system is even compulsory.
He also chided the embassy for rolling out the system ahead of a planned meeting involving his ministry, government officials and other bodies associated with the foreign employment sector that was to be held next Monday.
The MoLE was tasked by the Nepali Ministry Foreign Affairs (MoFA) earlier to inspect the system as soon as the Malaysian embassy announced its plan, amid concerns over another price hike.
“[The] Malaysian government has the right to implement bio-medical system in Nepal. But since it will have an impact on so many workers, the embassy should have properly consulted with us before taking the unilateral decision to implement the system,” said Dipak Dhital, a spokesman for MoFA.
The Himalayan Times reported previously that the embassy had made it mandatory for medical centres that conduct health checks for workers to install software developed by a Malaysian IT firm, Bestinet Sdn Bhd.
It was reported this week that under the new system, health centres will have to fork out nearly US$8,000 (RM26,290) each to purchase the mandatory medical equipment and software.
The mandatory installation is expected to cause medical inspection costs to balloon by Rs1,500 to Rs4,215 (RM140) per worker, making the total cost including visa at Rs11,225 (RM373), as opposed to the current cost of Rs6,525 (RM216).
However, the Nepal Health Professional Federation (NHPF) has denied the likelihood of such price hikes happening now, and insisted that the body has informed the government about the new system back in June last year.
“We even held a conference back then which was participated by government officials and representatives of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies.
“If the government had problems they should have told us then,” NHPF senior vice-president Kailash Khadka told The Himalayan Times.
NHPF also claimed that the system would be boon to those looking for jobs in Malaysia, as the medical check-up reports can directly be sent to Malaysia’s Foreign Workers Centralised Management System.
Currently, jobseekers have to undergo additional medical tests in Malaysia once their visas are approved, but are sent back to Nepal if they fail the tests in Malaysia.
“With the introduction of the new system, medical reports of workers, who undergo check-up here, are sent directly to the Malaysian authority, which immediately gives a decision on whether the worker is fit to work in Malaysia.
“And once their medical reports are approved by the Malaysian authority, visas are immediately issued,” Kailash added.
This comes as 80 representatives under the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) reportedly held a two-hour sit-in on December 23 against what they allege to be a move by Putrajaya to add more financial burden to its workers in Malaysia.
Following that, the Malaysian embassy had last week suspended a planned hike in the visa-processing fee and an increase in medical inspection charges, although the prices for both will still increase at a later time.
Last month, a company employed by the Malaysian embassy to process visa applications in Nepal has also been linked to a “shady deal” involving the remittance of a large sum of money to an unnamed firm in Hong Kong.
In the last year ending July 2013, a total of 636,120 Nepali workers reportedly left to find jobs in Malaysia, making the country one of the biggest employers of Nepali citizens. On average, 800 Nepali workers leave for Malaysia each day.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Zurairi AR
Quelle/Source: The Malay Mail Online, 04.01.2014
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