SOLID HORIZON WEIGHS IN ON AMENDED ACT 446
KLANG (Dec 17) – As companies from various industries weather the effects of the recent enforcement of the Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodation and Employee Facilities Act 1990 (Act 446) by the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM), James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd says that this is the perfect time for Act 446 to take effect.
“Act 446 being enforced in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic is a good thing for our industry,” he says. “Previously, despite having requirements and guidelines for employee accommodations, we didn’t have strict enforcement. Now that JTKSM has come out with the announcement that Act 446 has been amended to fit standard operating procedures in line with tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and the steep fines meted out to those that don’t follow them, Malaysian companies can finally be on the same page to mitigate further infections and provide better welfare to employees.”
Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd is a manufacturer and supplier of portable cabins, heavy duty cabins, labour quarter cabins, toilet cabins, guard houses, used containers and Polyurethane cabins. The company was established in 1994 and has worked hand-in-hand for nearly 30 years with various industries to provide site fabrications, site management, site enabling work, building temporary facilities and supplying prefabricated homes.
He added that through the amended Act 446, Malaysia is one step closer to replicating employee accommodations in other, more established parts of the world.
“In terms of good guidelines for employee accommodations that we can look to for inspiration would be Singapore. They have very strict guidelines for permits, measurements, materials and other details,” Yeoh says.
Yeoh adds that throughout the years, prior to the amended Act 446, the company has advised their clients to adopt better requirements for their employee accommodations, but it usually falls on deaf ears.
“We always advise them on better requirements such as the amount of people per square meter allowed, but we can’t say much because we’re just the supplier and they are our clients. But now that JTKSM has enforced the Act 446 requiring a limited number of employees per square meter, better facilities and entirely better living conditions, we’re glad,” Yeoh explains.
Since the enforcement of Act 446, Solid Horizon has seen an uptick in requests and consultation on the requirements for employee accommodations.
“We have companies we’ve never talked to before coming to us asking for advice on the guidelines and we’re always happy to help,” Yeoh says.
One of Solid Horizon’s more notable clients that they are working with for its Centralised Labour Quarters (CLQ) is Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd (Gamuda Land).
Solid Horizon is building 1,000 CLQs split into 10 clusters with each cluster housing 100 employees each for the company. This is to provide the best living conditions and to help contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus to only 100 employees should any infections occur.
“Our client, Gamuda Land is building the quarters even better than what is demanded in Act 446. We are extremely proud and happy to be part of this project and to provide better living conditions and better welfare to employees of the company,” Yeoh concluded.
For companies seeking employee accommodations that fit the requirement guidelines set by JTKSM, they can visit Solid Horizon’s website here, email the company at solid@sh.engimedia.com.my or call them at 03 3396 3888.
