Infectious Diseases Brought In By Illegal Workers

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- Illegal immigrant workers are responsible for some of the infectious diseases detected in the country.
The ministry's Parliamentary Secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon said the matter was compounded by the fact those who enter illegally and fall sick avoided treatment fearing they would be detained and deported home.
At the same time employers are also reluctant to send their sick illegal workers for treatment fearing they could be penalised for employing illegal workers.
He said this when winding-up the committee level debate on the 2006 Budget at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here, Tuesday.
Earlier, during the debate Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (BN-Jasin) asked the government to review the foreign workers health screening monopoly given to FOMEMA Sdn Bhd.
He suggested that the task should be given to local companies as Fomema is now a Singaporean company.
"Government should review the monopoly given to Fomema and we should establish three companies owned 100 percent by Malaysians to screen foreign foreign workers in Malaysia," he said.
He said the doctors in Fomema's panel also failed to carry out their responsibility with due diligence.
"There are doctors who don't conduct proper screening and there were instances all the blood samples of 100 foreigners were type "O". How can all of them have the same blood type. Maybe the doctor only screened one of the workers, not all," he said.