Kuching: ADUN for Pending Violet Yong has questioned the current SANSOLS arrangement that requires employers to pay RM324 for each Foreign Worker Transformation Approach (FWTA) ID card while still having to personally bring their foreign workers to the SANSOLS office in Kuching for biometric verification and card collection.
Yong described the requirement as unreasonable and impractical, pointing out that the FWTA ID card is valid for only 12 months and follows the expiry of the worker’s work permit, giving it limited practical use.
For employers operating in rural and remote areas such as Lawas, Baleh, and Kapit, she said the requirement could mean many hours or even days of travelling to Kuching.
“Who is going to bear the transportation, accommodation and other expenses? Who will compensate employers for the loss of working hours and productivity?” she asked.
Yong said this after employers continued to complain that the FWTA and SANSOLS system are not making the management of foreign workers easier.
“Instead, the system is creating more bureaucracy, inconvenience and additional financial burdens, raising serious concerns that a private company may be benefiting at the expense of employers and workers,” she said.
More troubling, Yong said, were reports that some employers had been told their foreign workers would not be entitled to renew their work permits unless the physical FWTA ID cards were collected.
“If this is indeed the position taken by SANSOLS, why are employers being compelled to undertake an additional physical collection process for an ID card before their workers can even have their permits renewed?” she questioned.
She asked whether the arrangement was genuinely about improving foreign worker management or merely creating another administrative hurdle for employers.
Yong also reminded SANSOLS that during earlier FWTA dialogue sessions, employers were assured that where there were more than 50 foreign workers, the ID cards would be delivered to the worksite.
She demanded that SANSOLS and the Sarawak Government explain what happened to the planned SANSOLS offices in Sibu and Bintulu, why they remain non-operational, and whether the plan has been abandoned.
“If SANSOLS is collecting RM324 for every card, employers have every right to expect decent service, accessibility and reasonable convenience,” she said.
Yong noted that even the Sarawak Immigration Department does not require foreign workers to travel to its office solely for work permit issuance, and questioned why SANSOLS imposes such a requirement for an ID card.
She urged the Sarawak Government to clarify whether the physical FWTA ID card is genuinely essential for work permit renewal. If it is, SANSOLS must explain the legal and administrative basis for making physical collection a precondition; if not, employers should not face unnecessary pressure.
Yong called for immediate Government intervention and urged SANSOLS to honour its earlier commitments by allowing employers to authorise representatives to collect the cards and providing worksite delivery, particularly for employers with more than 50 workers and those in rural and remote areas.
“FWTA was supposed to simplify the system and reduce the burden on employers. It must not become a system where employers pay more, workers face more inconvenience, businesses lose valuable working hours and a private company enjoys guaranteed revenue without providing corresponding service and convenience,” she said.
