Top Glove spends RM70m to upgrade workers’ living condition

TOP Gloves Corp Bhd has spent some RM20 mil on purchasing 100 units of apartments for its workers over the past two months to comply with the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446).

This is in addition to having previously invested in 100 double storey houses and hostels with full facilities that include in-house canteen, automated teller machines, barbershops, and minimarts worth an estimated RM50 mil.

“Our workforce is the company’s greatest asset, and we are committed to continue working closely with the relevant authorities to make the necessary improvements towards ensuring the safety, health and well-being of our employees,” the world’s largest glove manufacturer pointed out in a media statement.

Top Gloves was clarifying on media reports that efforts to source for more accommodation and to improve existing worker accommodation are ongoing in view of the large number of workers under its employment.

“We expect to complete the exercise of improving workers’ accommodation around Dec 31 this year,” the company further noted.

“This is in line with the government’s educational approach on employers in various sectors until the end of this year (2020), so that they can comply with Act 446.”

Earlier today, he Ministry of Human Resources has opened 19 investigation papers against six companies related to Top Glove Corp Bhd following enforcement operations in five states, namely Perak, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan and Johor, amid the spread of COVID-19 in the Teratai Cluster.

The Ministry claimed that Top Glove’s main offence was its failure to apply for an accommodation certificate from the director-general of the Department of Labour of Peninsular Malaysia under Section 24D of the act, which led to the discovery of other offences, including dense, uncomfortable accommodation and lack of proper ventilation.

Moreover, the buildings used as accommodation for workers did not adhere to local authority laws, it added.

Yesterday, Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) at Top Glove’s worker dormitories in Meru, Klang has been extended for 14 days from today (Dec 1) until Dec 14.

The EMCO, first imposed for two weeks starting from Nov 17, was initially scheduled to end yesterday (Nov 30).

“The risk assessment by the Ministry of Health (MoH) found that the positive rate in this area is still high whereby there are still new positive cases detected among employees through the second screening tests,” Ismail told a media briefing.

“Besides that, the MoH found that the negative cases in this cluster are still at risk and a second screening test is underway.” – Dec 1, 2020

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