Remote Sarawak estates hail FWTA on-site service for cutting costs, delays in foreign worker compliance

FWTA Services deployed in one of the remote estates in Sarawak late into the night.

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, June 18: Plantation and estate operators in Sarawak’s interior regions are praising the Foreign Workers Transformation Approach (FWTA) Services’ on-site compliance programme, describing it as a practical solution that has significantly reduced operational disruptions while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Since the beginning of 2026, FWTA Services has conducted on-site compliance programmes at several plantations and estates across Sarawak’s interior, including Karisma Plantation in Kidurong, Bintulu, Samling Plantation in Sungai Asap, Belaga, and Timur Enterprise in Ulu Tubau, Bintulu.

For years, estates located deep in Sarawak’s remote areas, often accessible only through logging roads and rugged tracks, faced challenges in completing routine foreign worker procedures.

The process typically required transporting workers over long distances to government offices, resulting in lost productivity, additional transport costs and uncertainty over scheduling.

Under FWTA’s on-site programme, government-sanctioned compliance services are brought directly to plantation and estate locations, allowing operators to complete the required procedures without disrupting daily operations.

An estate manager in Ulu Tubau said the service had proven highly effective despite challenging terrain and weather conditions.

“They are able to come to the estates despite the condition of the roads and weather, finishing hundreds of workers on site without any delay,” he said in a statement today.

An estate manager in Sungai Asap, Belaga, said the programme’s greatest advantage was the certainty it provided to businesses operating in remote areas.

“The value for us isn’t only the time saved, it’s the certainty. We know transparently what the process is, when it will happen and what it costs. We’re no longer losing working days or paying to send people back and forth for paperwork. When you add all of that up, it’s more affordable than the way we used to do it,” he said.

Estate operators in Kidurong echoed similar sentiments, noting that the predictability of the service enabled better operational planning.

“We can plan our operating schedule around it instead of wasting time and money waiting around,” they said.

An FWTA officer said the initiative was aimed at ensuring businesses across Sarawak, regardless of location, receive equal access to essential government-related services.

“Businesses in every part of Sarawak are entitled to the same standard of service, regardless of how far they sit from a government counter. These regions are an important part of the state’s economy. Our role is simply to make compliance straightforward, predictable and accessible for the businesses based there,” the officer said.

FWTA Services operates under the purview of the Sarawak government, with the on-site programme forming part of broader efforts to improve the efficiency and accessibility of regulatory administration throughout the State.

The programme is set to expand further over the coming month, with scheduled visits to estates in Nanga Merit, Kapit, Sawai, Mukah and Pulau Bruit, Daro, extending the reach of government services to more remote communities and businesses across Sarawak. — DayakDaily