Human Resource Minister: Entire Labour Department probing work and housing conditions at Top Glove

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan (pictured) said he has ordered “the entire Labour Department” to investigate the working and housing conditions of workers at Top Glove Corp’s factories in light of a Covid-19 cluster outbreak, reported The Star.

 “We are not merely sending a team to check on the conditions at Top Glove. It will be the entire Labour Department.

“We will complete everything within a week and will put everything in black and white.

“This is a matter of life and death of vulnerable workers, which must be contained now itself – no two ways about it,” Saravanan told the daily in an interview.

“We have started investigations and will spare no one if they were found to have flouted labour laws,” he warned.

Saravanan also revealed that he found the workers’ housing conditions provided Top Glove as being “deplorable” after a visit.

“I have visited the hostels and the conditions are terrible. My officers were ordered to go in full force as this is a big, vulnerable migrant workers colony. If we don’t act, this cluster might get out of control.

“The Labour Department will ensure the employers are held responsible for worker conditions and dire action will be taken according to the law,” Saravanan said.

Theedgemarkets.com reported yesterday that a total of 1,511 new confirmed Covid-19 cases have been detected in the Teratai cluster, which originated from Top Glove’s worker dormitories in Klang, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Based on MoH’s data, the latest tally of active cases in the Teratai cluster — meaning patients who carry high transmission risks and have to be admitted to hospitals and quarantined — climbed to 3,835 from 2,359 reported on Monday.

To date, some 5,777 individuals in the cluster have been screened, and 4,036 positive cases have been detected so far.

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