IN denying all the damning allegations on labour abuses that appeared in a UK tabloid as false, ATA IMS Bhd, the largest contract manufacturer of electrical products in Malaysia, welcomes any industrial audits to proof its innocence.
Yesterday, the Sunday Mirror claimed that some workers at a plant run by ATA Industrial (M) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of ATA IMS which makes parts for Dyson vacuum cleaners, had to do up to 186 hours overtime a month just to make ends meet.
To clear its name, the company went to the extent of showing FocusM video clips of what it deemed as “orderly workers’ accommodation” with adequate social distancing in place between beds.
“We have many previous audits with no such allegations by our external independent and our clients as well … the unkempt dormitory photos are not real in that they may not be that of our hostels,” ATA Industrial’s senior manager (legal) Jivanadham Kavita Kaushaliya told FocusM.
“Also, we provide proper hostel facility in apartment blocks as opposed to shop lots as our employees’ accommodation.”
“In this regard, we also wish to deny all the accusations levelled on us by migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall who has been instrumental in painting a wrong picture of us to the foreign media.”
According to Jivanadham, Hall’s “hidden agendas” are not favourable for the Malaysian economy which is currently in a doldrums, no thanks to the raging COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
For this very reason, ATA IMS has filed a police report against Hall in Johor Bahru where the company’s operations are based.
“He (Hall) is just taking the wrong move towards the right of doing business,” noted Jivanadham. “By doing so, he is attacking the Malaysian Government while putting the image of the country in bad shape.”
Jivanadham further denied a media report which claimed that the deputy director-general of the Labour Department has raided the company last Friday (June 18).
“All this false claims and information against us is not ethically right by any means. Our clients are very careful and are always kept abreast with regular audits on the working and living conditions of our 8,000 plus workforce, half of whom are foreigners.”
In his correspondence with FocusM, Hall said he has instructed his lawyers to check the police complaint filed against him by ATA Industrial.
“They will confirm me the details of their (ATA Industrial’s) allegations against me on Monday (June 21),” Hall pointed out, admitting that he petitioned the US Customs and Border Protection Department (CBP) to urgently investigate the forced labour allegations.
“My requests for a response from Dyson and engagement with the company as well as request for investigations by Malaysian authorities have not been responded to,” he added.
At 11am, ATA IMS was down 13 sen or 4.76% with 2.34 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM3.13 bil. – June 21, 2021
