PUTRAJAYA: Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan says that both he and the Home Minister want to protect the welfare and well-being of Indonesian workers here.

       The Human Resources Minister said he and Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin shared the same aim, especially involving issues concerning pay, off days and the welfare of foreign workers.

       He said the issue of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the recruitment and placement of Indonesian domestic workers (PDI) was raised and discussed at length at several Cabinet meetings, the latest being Feb 9.

       "Following the meeting, the Cabinet has decided for the MoU to be signed as soon as possible by me and my Indonesian counterpart Ida Fauziyah," he said in a statement on Feb 11.

       News reports quoted Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Hermono claiming that Hamzah and Saravanan took "different positions" on the MoU, saying that he had received information that the two ministers made contradictory statements on Malaysia’s position about the MoU to Ida Fauziyah.

       He, however, did not disclose what the contradictions were.

       The two Malaysian ministers were in Indonesia last month to finalise issues related to the MoU.

       However, the signing, which was supposed to take place on Feb 7 and 8 was postponed but Saravanan assured that most of the pressing issues have been ironed out and that the MoU could be signed by the end of this month.

       Several days ago, Hermon had pointed out that key players in the implementation of clauses in the MoU were missing during the recent negotiations.

       To which, Hamzah responded for the ambassador to check with his home affairs minister on what transpired during the meeting.