PKR wants to know the company which has been awarded the government contract for the online management system of foreign workers.

The party's demand comes after Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that employers will soon have to submit applications for foreign workers online.

"PKR is surprised with his announcement that online applications will be approved within 48 hours (after the application meets the conditions set by the home ministry).

"But I realised that Ahmad Zahid in his announcement yesterday did not inform the public which company was 'gifted' with this government concession and that the cost that will be borne by employers who wish to make applications," said Semambu state assemblyperson Lee Chean Chung in a statement today.

"The question is, was the government concession awarded through an open tender process?"

Lee ( photo ) also expressed his doubts over Zahid's announcement that the applications would be approved in 48 hours.

"Approving applications in just two days makes them look like they are in a hurry and this might raise all kinds of issues related to the country's security," he said.

Zahid was yesterday quoted by Bernama as saying that an online management system of foreign workers would be introduced soon to reduce the time needed to bring them into the country.

Raise more eyebrows

The home minister pointed out the existing conventional application system where employers were required to go to the ministry's One-Stop Approval Centre took between three and six months.

Zahid's latest announcement is set to raise more eyebrows after Malaysiakini reported that a firm owned by his brother is in talks with Dhaka and Putrajaya to provide a management system for the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers Malaysia intends to allow in through a new business-to- business system.

Real Time Networking Sdn Bhd, which Zahid’s brother Abdul Hakim Hamidi is executive chairperson, aims to provide an online system where, for a fee, workers can be registered and monitored both in Bangladesh and Malaysia.

As home minister, the approval of foreign workers into Malaysia comes under Zahid's ministry’s purview.