Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
The girls, who were returning home after their shift, spent a harrowing two
hours after midnight before the van operator, Abdul Malik Mohamad, 26, of Kenang
Budi Enterprise, sent another vehicle to pick them up.
<p>Abdul Malik said the van stalled at about 1am after the driver could not buy
any diesel earlier. </p>
<p>"He picked up the girls from work slightly after midnight and travelled
along the North South Expressway, making his exit via the Jawi interchange,"
he said. </p>
<p>"He stopped at a petrol kiosk but was told that there was no supply of
diesel. He drove on until the tank went dry." </p>
<p>He said the driver called and asked him to send another van to pick up the
girls who finally reached home at 4.30am. </p>
<p>"I am relating this incident to show the seriousness of the current diesel
shortage which has affected our daily operations," he added. </p>
<p>Abdul Malik said his company, which has 15 buses and 20 vans, was forced to
ground 30% of its fleet due to the diesel shortage. </p>
<p>He said it was better to stop some of the services than allowing all the drivers
to spend the entire day looking for diesel at petrol stations in Seberang Prai
and the neighbouring towns. </p>
<p>Another operator, Michael Tan of Galaxi Enterprise, said his drivers spent
an average of two hours looking for supply. </p>
<p>"The situation became worse this week and we appeal to the Government
to scrap the quota system. The shortage has a spiral effect because any delay
in ferrying the factory workers to their workplaces will affect production,"
he said. </p>
<p>Yesterday, Abdul Malik and Tan joined a group of transport owners who submitted
a memorandum to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry. </p>
<p>Among others, the owners urged the Government to solve the shortage, failing
which the transport industry would collapse. </p>
<p>The owners also suggested that the Government should standardise the diesel
price for commercial and ordinary users.
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