Saturday, May 22, 2010

Sandakan businessmen against levy hike on foreigners

SANDAKAN: Sabah Employer’s Consultative Association (Seca) chairman Alan Khoo commented that if the government decides to increase the levy on foreign workers for the plantation and industrial sectors, the cost of doing business will be further increased.

“As of now, there are already so many levies, the windfall  tax, to name one, so this increase will increase overheads of the plantation sector,” said Khoo. He pointed out that this industry would be losing out in terms of competitiveness as compared to other countries, Indonesia in particular. Sandakan Fishing Association chairman Phua Peh Chee said he does not welcome the levy increase on foreign workers.

He said locals just could not take up the 24-hour hard labour job as fishermen going out to sea for weeks compared with the ability of foreign workers. He explained that if Indonesia can pay higher wages to these foreign workers, then we would be losing them and the whole fishing industry would be affected.

No comments:

Post a Comment