THE recent visit by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan to the premises of ATA IMS Bhd in Johor alongside the minister’s Facebook (FB) posting of his factory tour has left migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall dumbfounded. 

First thing first, Hall is surprised that the authorities have turned silent nor willing to clarify on the unpaid fines for the charges the Human Resources Ministry (MOHR) claimed a few days ago that it had levied against ATA. 

“Also, MOHR doesn’t seem to have investigated prior to the minister’s FB posts as to why ATA IMS would suddenly have a 50% labour shortage (clearly because of its prior use of so many irregular workers) and how the company has ‘increasing international orders’ at a time when Dyson has announced it has already started withdrawing its production lines,” he noted. 

Hall has raised his above curiosity in a recent e-mail that seeks further clarification from MOHR, the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM), high-tech home appliance maker Dyson Ltd and the public relations representative of ATA IMS. 

“Likewise it would be good to get some clarity why the minister is now claiming that the contract termination between ATA IMS and Dyson was consensual and by mutual agreement when a few days ago ATA IMS claimed they were reviewing the legality of the termination,” Hall pointed out. 

“This is somewhat surprising to external observers to understand why ATA IMS would consensually terminate more than 80% of its customer orders with Dyson.” 

In a FB posting yesterday (Dec 9), Saravanan said he had the opportunity to visit ATA IMS’ employee hostel to check the conditions of accommodation provided by the company which he deemed as “satisfactory”. 

“The company gives full commitment to solving any issues raised and working with the Government in improving the welfare and convenience of employees. I was also informed that the company lacks almost 50% of the workforce,” he stated. 

“This is an urgent issue due to a new demand requirement from foreign markets. Related to Dyson, the company informed that the termination was based on mutual consent. This is because the company (ATA IMS) is no longer able to meet Dyson’s demand due to the pandemic and critical workforce shortage.” 

At 10.17am, ATA IMS was up 1 sen or 1.98% to 51.5 sen with 28.34 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM620 mil. – Dec 10, 2021