GEORGE TOWN: Penang has instructed all foreign workers in the state, especially those in the manufacturing and construction sectors, to undergo mandatory Covid-19 screening or risk facing stern action.
The state has identified 51,208 foreign workers in both sectors in its official record.
"We will go to the factories and the construction sites to check on them. If they fail to produce proof of having undergone the screening before returning to work, we will not hesitate to act against them.
"Our priority is the safety of all and to ensure Penang continues to remain free of Covid-19," said state Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo when met at the screening at Padang Polo here today.
Also present was Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang.
A makeshift screening facility was set up at Padang Polo for the purpose.
Some 270 foreign workers involved in MBPP's construction projects became the pioneer batch to be tested.
The facility will be there for at least a month to facilitate screening for Covid-19 for foreign workers.
The cost of Covid-19 testing is borne by their respective employers.
Jagdeep said the screening was not only limited to foreign workers in the manufacturing and construction sectors, but open to those in other sectors, including the food and beverage business.
Meanwhile, Yew said they had prepared the platform to ease the foreign workers in getting the mandatory screening for Covid-19.
"We hope that those whose test came back negative, to continue to care for themselves and not take the results for granted.
"We have a contract tracing system in place to prepare for any eventualities," he added.
There are a total of 109 construction sites on the island and 127 construction sites on the mainland, with a total of 14,436 foreign workers.
There are 36,772 foreign workers in the factories on both the island and the mainland.