Sabah RCI: Give us your proposal, Shim tells Madius

KOTA KINABALU - The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah wants United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) to come up with a detailed mechanism for implementing its proposal to recall for re-issuance all identification cards from Sabah.

RCI Chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Keong said the commission would want to look at UPKO’s proposal on clearly lined up procedures for the exercise before it can make any consideration or recommendation.

“You have made a general proposal on the recall exercise and it would be interesting if you can come up with a detailed mechanism in regards to this exercise,” Shim told UPKO secretary-general, Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau (photo).

“It is very important for us to consider your proposal (but with details), otherwise we would not know what exactly you are proposing and how to implement it,”

The Tuaran Member of Parliament appeared before the commission as a witness on Tuesday, to share his knowledge as a former senior researcher for the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah, as well as his views and concerns as politician in regards to the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah.

Tangau, who served with the IDS back in the 80s and 90s where he was directly involved on some studies on illegal immigrants, earlier reiterated UPKO’s stand that there is a need to reassess the whole system in issuing identity card.

He said there were unanswered questions on the integrity of the whole system, the National Registration Department and the government as a whole in regards to the alleged issuance of citizenship to illegal or unqualified immigrants.

He stressed the whole system have to be reset and the government must come up with something that the people can trust, otherwise the question of integrity will always be in the mind of the people of Sabah.

Tangau in his testimony noted that he have in many occasions made a general speech in Parliament, questioning the sudden increase of population in Sabah that started in the 80s.

However, the ministers concerned have not yet given him a satisfactory reply.

By Jamil Mirdad
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June, 18, 2013 - 7:56 pm

RCI Sabah: Answers on population boom ‘unacceptable’

KOTA KINABALU: BN component party Upko today told the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on immigrants in Sabah that it had never received a satisfactory explanation from Putrajaya over the population explosion in Sabah.

“I have raised this issue repeatedly in parliament either during debates or by written question and I have never been satisfied with the answer from the Home Ministry.

“As long as I remain in the house I will continue to press for answers,” said Upko secretary-general Wilfred Madius Tangau, who is the 117th witness to testify at the RCI and the first active politician to take the stand since hearing began in January.

Wilfred was Tuaran MP from 2004 to 2008 and was elected again in the constituency during last month’s general election after a one-term hiatus.

He said one of the explanation Putrajaya had given to him in 2006 to justify Sabah’s population explosion was that rural folks now had better access to the National Registration Department (NRD) and can finally be registered and accounted for.

“But if you draw parallels between Sabah and Sarawak, Sarawak used to be more remote than Sabah, so why has Sarawak’s population not increased faster than Sabah with better access to NRD now,” he said.
Sabah, which initially had a lower population than Sarawak, saw it rapidly grew to overtake its neighbouring state, climbing from around 341,000 in 1951 to over three million in 2010.

The illegal granting of citizenship to foreigners had been blamed for Sabah’s unnatural population growth.
When asked by former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim, who leads the RCI, what was missing from Putrajaya’s explanation, Wilfred responded: “the truth”.

When pressed what “the truth” was, Wilfred replied, “as far as I am concerned, the truth is the sworn statement of Hassnar Ebrahim, he had said how it (Project IC) was done”.

Hassnar Ebrahim was a district officer who had implicated several individuals and explained how foreigners were allowed to vote in the Likas election petition, leading to the constituency results being declared null and void.

‘Project IC’ is a general name given to a series of covert operations which took place in Sabah involving government agencies to allow foreigners to vote in the state election. – Malaysiakini