Fast-food restaurant operators in the country are no longer allowed to hire foreign workers.

Instead, the restaurant operators are urged to give preference to locals to fill in vacancies in their premises.

This was decided at the 11th Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants (PATI) chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The committee secretariat in a statement said, the government viewed the issue seriously as there are many locals who are interested to work in fast-food restaurants.

Opportunity should be given to locals especially school leavers and students of institutes of higher learning for the exposure in the food industry and income.

Meanwhile, the government had agreed to allow Bangladeshis to be brought into the country to fill vacancies in the oil palm sector.

However, they will have to follow stringent rules in terms of security and health clearance according to the mechanisms agreed upon by the Malaysian and Bangladesh government.

Meanwhile, employers who claim to be have been cheated by agents and middlemen during the 6P programme can file their complaints with the Home Ministry’s one stop centre before Jan 20, 2014.