MPSepang: Guidelines for housing foreign workers in shoplots

PETALING JAYA (March 28): The Sepang Municipal Council (MPSepang) has come up with guidelines for workers’ accommodation in shoplots, reported The Star today.

It has been reported that Cyberjaya and Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi were identified as areas with the highest number of foreign workers living in such shoplots.

“We have started issuing notices to employers who are using shoplots as worker dorms.

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“Phase One of this operation took place in Glomac Cyberjaya in November 2018. Out of 42 shoplots inspected, 36 were found to be occupied by restaurant workers while six were home to construction workers,” assistant director in the council’s Town Planning Department Siti Shaidatul Hanim told the daily.

MPSepang does not allow shoplots to be used as accommodation for construction workers.

A six-shoplot dormitory used as a home for construction workers has been “ordered to cease operations”, said the report.

The guideline is an inter-department operation involving building, enforcement and health, said Siti Shaidatul.

She also explained to the English publication that MPSepang “was spurred to act” after receiving public complaints on workers’ living conditions and hygiene in Cyberjaya.

The new guidelines will involve employers having to submit workers’ information such as work permits, provide proper laundry and bathroom facilities, and partitions to separate sleeping accommodations and the living area are given the okay by the Fire and Rescue Department.

Employers must also provide “each dormitory with a rubbish bin and pay RM15 for waste management services”.