KUALA LUMPUR: The cost of hiring a maid will be less than RM15,000 as Covid-19 quarantine requirements have been lifted, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

       He explained that when discussions first started with Indonesia a few months ago regarding the hiring of maids, they had to factor in the cost of a 14-day quarantine period and even RT-PCR testing.

       Saravanan said the cost in Malaysia at the time was around RM9,000 while the cost in Indonesia was about RM4,000 to RM5,000, leading to a total of about RM15,000.

       “Now, there is no more quarantine, so our charges would be about RM6,000, down from the RM9,000 which included the cost of hotel stay (for quarantine) and others,” he said.

       However, he explained that the RM15,000 cost was not fixed.

       “I did not say RM15,000. We said it might cost about RM15,000 or lower as others had claimed that employers would have to pay up to RM25,000 for a maid,” he told a press conference yesterday.

       Saravanan also pointed out that the first batch of maids from Indonesia totalling 10,000 was expected to arrive in the country after Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

       “At the same time, I am talking to other countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh to bring in maids,” he added.

       He said he would visit Cambodia and Vietnam soon to discuss bringing in foreign workers, especially for the domestic help sector.

       Asked about the minimum household income of RM7,000 to employ an Indonesian maid, he said the country had made it a condition as a form of protection.

       He said he would monitor the implementation of the RM7,000 household income condition to prevent employers from trying to source maids using illegal ways.

       “We will monitor the implementation. If RM7,000 is deemed too high, maybe we will ask them to lower it,” Saravanan added.

       Early this year, The Star reported that agencies were quoting up to RM25,000 for the recruitment of a domestic worker which included Covid-19-related expenses such as quarantine and testing.

       The fees were among the highest in the world, industry players claimed.