Time to end Fomema's monopoly with better system: Ex-judge

Kota Kinabalu: Medical checks should be made on foreign workers before they enter the country and on a regular basis thereafter unlike what is practised by Fomema (Foreign Workers' Medical Examination Agency) now.
Towards this end, the Government must also end the monopoly of Fomema which issues annual certificates attesting to the health status of workers only a year after they had entered the country.
The suggestion comes from the Centre for Services and Counselling For Foreign Workers and House Maids (PPKPA) Malaysia Chairman, Datuk Muhd Kamil Awang.
PPKPA was set up in 2003 in Kualau Lumpur and has registered over 5,000 legal foreign workers in Sabah so far.
"Health checks on legal foreign workers in Sabah should be opened to other private organisations or companies that can provide better services and not solely controlled by Fomema," said the retired High Court Judge. "Even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had once said that any business should not be a monopoly," he said.
According to Kamil, it is vital that the health aspect of foreign workers who wished to work in the State is screened properly before they are brought in here and not when they are already here, which could endanger the health of the locals.
He also believed that the medical check-up should be a continuous process and not limited to annual checks as done by Fomema.
"Legal foreign workers who must obtain medical reports to work in the State should have more options to acquire such service from other private body or companies that could provide continuous medical treatment to them whenever they need.
"Therefore, other organisations or companies in Sabah should be allowed to provide similar services or even better than that of Fomema," he said, confident that private companies like PPKPA could play a role. Kamil also questioned why Fomema was rejected in Sarawak. "If Fomema is not acceptable in Sarawak then it can also be disallowed in other states in the country," he said.
Kamil said Fomema is only interested in doing initial and annual check-ups on the workers but not made responsible to provide follow-up checks on the workers.
In addition, he pointed out that the charges imposed by Fomema (RM180 for male workers and RM190 for female workers) for the initial and subsequent health checks are very high and burdensome to the workers and employers.
He said its panel doctors are only paid RM60 for the health checks. On the other hand, he said, PPKPA panel doctors will ensure all foreign workers who wished to work in the country are fully screened in their hometown before being brought in here.
He added this is to ensure they do not carry contagious and serious diseases that could endanger the safety and health of locals.
PPKPA central Vice-Chairman Amir Ibrahim said the burden is on the Government and the people if the health of legal foreign workers is only checked when they are brought into the country.
"Imagine what would be the negative implications to Malaysians if a foreign domestic helper who is not fully screened for medical check-up and suffering from tuberculosis (TB) works in local residential homes.
"Under Fomema, foreign workers would be checked only after they have been working in the State for 12 months. Also they can go for the health check-up in Fomema when they have made payment for the health fee into the Fomema bank account," he said.
Amir also pointed out that foreign workers would face problems affording medical bills when they need further treatment as Fomema does not do such service.
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