Semporna district officer Abdul Ibnu Kadir Baba said that he has to date received more than three “official letters” from the Sulu sultan to date since he became the DO in 2007.
“Once I asked a family of civil servants to move out because the state land was going to be used to build a public building,” he said.
“But they complained to the Sulu sultan and I received an official letter from the sultan of Sulu instructing me not to demolish that housing on state land,” Ibnu told the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into illegal immigrants in Sabah.
"The civil servants there believe in the existence of the Sulu Sultanate," he said.
He also said that the so-called Sulu Sultanate has "regular meetings" with the Sulu folk in Sampoerna as well.
"When the incursion in Kg Simunul happened, I have heard from others that there were administration promises that were made by the Sulu Sultanate should it capture Kg Tanduo and Sampoerna," he said.
Abdul Ibnu went on to describe Sampoerna as a "very dangerous district" due to its proximity with Philippines and the constant influx of foreigners there.
By Ram Anand
Semua ini seolah dirancang.
ReplyDeleteKenapa pula Semporna? Apakah ciri-ciri keunikan Sempornan menjadi pusat?
ReplyDeletePendatang asing ini harus dihantar ke negara asal. Jangan membiarkan PATI ini menghantui negara kami.
ReplyDeleteRCI harus mempercepatkan proses menyelesaikan isu PATI.
ReplyDeleteSultan Sulu harus sedar tindakan beliau adalah amat tidak baik.
ReplyDeleteSultan sulu tidak akan sedar selama dia masih hidup. Keep on insisting this land belong to him, that old man!
DeleteWhy is this Sultan Sulu still interfering on something that is not belong to him anymore? Someone should send assassin to tembak him lah
ReplyDeleteSulu sultan ready to face charges over Sabah incursion
ReplyDeleteManila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - A defiant Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III maintained on Wednesday that he did not violate the country's laws when his brother Agbimuddin Kiram and 235 of their followers occupied the coastal town of Lahad Datu in Sabah, Malaysia.
Speaking through his spokesman Abraham Idjirani, the leader of the sultanate of Sulu reiterated that he and his followers would face the charges that the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has reportedly recommended against them.
Delete"We will face the cases for the love of our homeland. If we abandon our responsibility, then our fight for historical and legal truths will be put to waste," Idjirani told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Delete"The sultan said if President Aquino considers that love for our ancestral land and homeland is not an act of patriotism and nationalism, then clearly the Philippine government is siding with the Malaysian government," he added.
DeleteIdjirani said the sultanate would issue an official statement as soon as they receive a copy of the supposed NBI recommendation, noting that even Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has been "mum" on the matter.
DeleteBut he brushed off allegations that Kiram was involved in a conspiracy to occupy Sabah when members of the "royal security forces" sailed to the coastal town of Lahad Datu on February 12.
Delete"If ever the accusation of conspiracy would prosper in court, that would be concocted. Even members of the media who covered the Sabah standoff did not see any evidence of conspiracy," Idjirani said.
Delete"We maintain that the main objective of (the sultanate's followers) was to live in peace and permanently in their homeland... and to show the whole world that the sultanate of Sulu has not abandoned its ownership rights over Sabah."
DeleteReports said the NBI had recommended the filing of cases of inciting to war against Kiram and 38 of his armed followers who were intercepted by Philippine authorities off the Sulu sea while they were returning from Sabah.
DeleteThe NBI purportedly found enough evidence to charge Kiram's followers with illegal possession of firearms and violation of the election gun ban.
DeleteIdjirani, the sultanate's secretary general, said he was able to contact Agbimuddin over the phone. He said Kiram's brother told him that he had no plans of leaving Sabah.
DeleteFrom 166 in April, he claimed the sultanate's "royal security forces" and "volunteer fighters" who had launched "guerilla warfare" against Malaysian forces in the hinterlands of Lahad Datu had increased to some 1,600.
DeleteSultan Sulu harus sedar bahawa beliau tiada berkuasa dan kini Sabah dalam perkembangan dan tidak harus bertindak emosi demi kepentingan diri.
DeleteMenteri Pertahanan Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein berkata insiden pencerobohan di Lahad Datu merupakan "wake-up call" untuk rakyat Malaysia termasuk pasukan keselamatan bersatu menangani ancaman globalisasi yang merentasi sempadan.
ReplyDeleteDalam hal ini, kata beliau, walaupun Ops Daulat kini berakhir namun tugas pasukan keselamatan, khususnya angkatan tentera belum terhenti.
ReplyDeleteBenar.. Kumpulan ini berkemungkinan akan serang lagi.
Delete"Ops Sanggah (yang menggantikan Ops Daulat) tidak bermakna kehadiran kita (tentera di Sabah) dikurangkan.
ReplyDelete"Sebenarnya kehadiran kita di Kawasan Keselamatan Khas Timur Sabah (ESSCOM) and di 10 daerah di Esszone (Zon Keselamatan Timur Sabah) menjurus kepada bagaimana kita memantapkan lagi "wake up call" itu," katanya.
ReplyDelete"Saya melihat ada hikmah daripada insiden pencerobohan di Sabah ini, dan hikmah itu memberi pengajaran bagi kita bukan sahaja di Sabah tetapi juga di kawasan-kawasan lain yang membimbangkan.
ReplyDeleteThey can plan any attack in the future, not only Lahat Datu but can be many places.
DeleteSemporna has 18 major squatter colonies within its municipal rating zone and more than 100 smaller colonies scattered outside the area, its district officer Abdul Mohamed Ibnu Abdul Kadir Baba told the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants here.
ReplyDeleteTestifying at the public hearing yesterday, he said the latest census carried out in 2010 showed there were about 24,000 living in the major squatters alone, mostly immigrants.
ReplyDelete“We do not have the updated figure yet but it is part of the plan under the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscomm) to conduct a census at these 18 settlements in August,” he said.
ReplyDeleteHe said Semporna is considered a ‘dangerous’ district due to the presence of a massive number of immigrants and its proximity to the southern Philippines.
ReplyDeleteKerajaan harus mengambil langkah yang positif. Apa yang akan berlaku sekiranya golongan ini membuat kekecohan?
DeleteHe added that the residents in the illegal settlements, including those who had become citizens, still maintained a close tie with their families and relatives on the other side of the border, posing a constant threat that they would bring over more illegal immigrants flooding into the state.
ReplyDeleteWhen they settle down here, there can bring their family or relative here. Sooner or late, another philipine island are here in Sabah.
DeleteMore alarmingly, he said, many of the residents in these areas subscribed to a dangerous misconception that Semporna belonged to the defunct Sulu Sultanate and that the long gone kingdom would in the near future take Semporna and the rest of Sabah back from Malaysia.
ReplyDelete“That is why we consider, especially these 18 villages, as security threats and decided they needed to be fully relocated,” he said, adding that there were an estimated 41,000 immigrants in Semporna, representing about 30 per cent of the total population in the district.
ReplyDeleteZulkifli said there was an urgent need for the relocation exercise, especially after the Lahad Datu incursion, to enable the authority to monitor and control the immigrants in these areas.
ReplyDeleteHe added that the government should also take into consideration the fact that these settlements were notorious for lawlessness and the strong tendency of its inhabitants to get involved in criminal activities.
ReplyDelete“It is indeed a wild place. The situation in Kampung Simunul for example is very bad, and is located right next to the town area. Something has to be done quickly to relocate the whole village,” he said.
ReplyDeleteHe explained that the district office, with assistance from the various agencies, had conducted operations to demolish the illegal houses from time to time, the last one was last year in one of the major colonies.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he said efforts to eradicate these illegal settlements were limited by several factors, weaknesses in existing by-laws and insufficient resources and human capital.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, these colonies are also home to local families, citizens who know how to use their voting power to pressure local elected representatives not to be too strict on them.“We also need to take humanitarian consideration, especially towards the locals living in these areas,” he added.
ReplyDeleteAsked on his view on the stateless Bajau Palauh in Semporna, he said they should be given documentations to allow them fairer access to job and economic opportunities.
ReplyDeleteDocumenting the sea nomad community would also help the authority to monitor them and prevent immigrants from coming in and pose as Bajau Palauh.“This is an issue because there have been many incidents where newcomers (from the Philippines) claim to be local Palauhs,” he said.
ReplyDeleteAlso called to testify was Kinabatangan DO Arisin Aripin, whose 7,542 square km district is home to over 115,000 immigrants of various nationals, mostly Indonesians working in farms and in plantations.With some 70 per cent of its population non-locals, Kinabatangan has the highest ratio of immigrants to locals in the whole state, probably in the entire country.
ReplyDeleteThere are over 60 major plantations in the district and this is where most of the foreigners live. We do not have the data on employers hiring undocumented immigrants and these workers are good in hiding from the authorities so the actual number can be much higher than the official figure,” said Arisin.
ReplyDeleteAlso appearing as a witness was Beaufort DO Wong Foo Tin who in his testimony said the state government needed to be more serious in dealing with the illegal immigrant and squatter colony issues in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteHe hinted that the authority was too lenient, both on the illegal immigrants and those responsible in keeping them in the State.
ReplyDelete“Those without documents must be repatriated, and dubious documents must be taken back. Security along the borders must be improved and stern action must be taken against bosses found hiring illegals. Nothing is impossible if we are serious about it, it is just a matter of whether you really want to do it or not,” he said.
ReplyDelete