Ten job centres to be launched by PM in March

JOHOR BARU: At least 10 job centres will be launched within densely populated areas in the country to provide career guidance and assistance to job-seekers beginning next month.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the centres, to be run by his ministry, would be located in areas frequented by young people.

He said the free service would be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak next month. The centres would be eventually set up in all districts in the country.

“We hope everyone, especially the young, will take advantage of this service,” Dr Subra­maniam said, adding that among the places identified for the centres were Danga Bay in Johor and Cyberjaya in Selangor.

He was speaking to reporters at a special job-matching programme organised for the poor and disabled by the Johor Manpower Department and the Johor Welfare Depart­ment.

Dr Subramaniam said the new centres would not duplicate the responsibilities of the state Labour and Manpower departments as job-matching was not their core business.

On complaints that the Government was penalising all employers of newly employed foreign maids by forcing them to attend a half-day course when less than 1% had problems, Dr Subramaniam called on all parties to be patient.

“We cannot take the maids alone for this course as that would be meaningless. Both parties have to be responsible,” he said, adding that the effectiveness of the courses would be studied.

Dr Subramaniam pointed out that the Government was doing this not just for the maids but the employers and maid agencies as well.

“We feel that maid agencies must be more involved other than fulfilling the three-month contractual obligation to find a replacement if the current maid runs away,” he said.

On the Malaysian Trades Union Congress’ suggestion for refugees to be allowed to work in labour-strapped sectors, he said that while it could be done on a humanitarian basis, the Government had to be careful not to open the floodgates for refugees to come to Malaysia seeking employment.