ECRL retrenched mostly unskilled workers, says report

KUALA LUMPUR (July 22): The bulk of the about 1,000 workers involved in work on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) mega project recently retrenched comprise unskilled daily paid labour, an industry source familiar with the matter told The Star.

“The layoff is necessary following the stop-work order. They can be hired again anytime,” the source told the English daily.

The source added that close to 18% of the total workforce of ECRL are executives and expatriates are from China, with the remaining 82% made up of Malaysian and Indonesian workers.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) three weeks ago issued work suspension notices on several mega rojects, including the ECRL.

In a letter dated July 3, ECRL’s project owner Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) instructed its main contractor China Communications Construction Co Ltd to suspend all works under the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract in respect of the ECRL project, among others, on grounds of national interest.

An executive from a China-based subcontractor, however, told The Star that some of the staff members have been impacted by the suspension.

“There are three scenarios. Some of the staff were retrenched, some would only receive half of their salaries, while some were not affected at all.

“As for the local contractors, I was told some workers took a pay cut,” the executive told the English daily

Singapore-based Channel News Asia reported yesterday that nearly half of the about 2,000 staff working at the mega rail project had been laid off..

The report said “half of the workforce has been retrenched, hurting mostly Malaysians. There are all together eight base camps, this is in Bentong, Pahang”.

Channel News Asia also said that some of the expatriates such as engineers, the admin staff, and chefs have gone home on long leave, but some local employees are still staying at their posts.

On Thursday, it was reported that MoF has cautioned the main contractor of the suspended mega project against the rapid lay-offs of its employees.

In a letter dated July 17, MRL said it is observing the contractor’s “drastic action especially on the demobilisation of your staff”.

“Please note that MRL requires you to officially notify us of personnel whom had been registered as person-in-charge to all local authorities, ie CIDB, JKKP etc.”

“It is required for you to maintain those staff during the suspension period to avoid any unforeseen actions by the authorities, like closing of your site offices, or imposing penalties, etc,” said MRL in the letter.