Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) will put forward a motion on Sabah Identity Card (Sabah IC) to the Sabah State Assembly next month.

Its deputy president, Edward Dagul, in a statement on Tuesday said the motion will be brought forward by SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee, a nominated assemblyman.

According to Edward, the Sabah IC was advocated by SAPP as a mechanism to safeguard Sabahans’ citizenship status and a means by the state government to filter out dubious MyKad through its stringent process. The call for Sabah IC has been highlighted and pursued for many years and it should be timely to implement it for the people of Sabah.

He said the Federal Government’s proposal to issue special card for foreigners in Sabah had received heavy criticisms from various sectors of the society.

Edward said a committee had been set up to supervise and to finalize working papers on Sabah IC which comprised of several party leaders chaired by himself.

Meanwhile he said a team of young lawyers will be working together to provide vital input in terms of legislation to ensure its legality within the State ordinance in the proposal and be usable in the future.

“We have completed the working paper and taken into account various aspects, including legal and socio-economic. If this matter is proposed later, we will submit the details of it to the government for further action,” he added.

The establishment of Sabah IC is expected to resolve many issues such as the issuing of identity cards in Project IC, dubious identity cards, phantom voters and of course Sabah’s undocumented natives, especially in the remote interior of Sabah with difficult access to the towns.

“Sabah IC is not a replacement of MyKad, but as a guarantee of protection of our rights as genuine Sabahans and deserving Malaysians,” he said.

According to Edward, in June 2013, while testifying to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah, Yong also submitted the Sabah IC proposal to the Commission.

Edward is confident that Sabah IC is the best way to resolve the PTI issue that has plagued Sabah for decades. This is a matter that is often debated but still unresolved until now.

“The government needs to think of new initiatives and be more serious in addressing the ‘symptoms’ of Project IC in total for Sabah.

“Sabah IC has the support of various leaders including Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffery Kitingan who is STAR president and Sabah Deputy Chief Minister. Besides that we have state opposition leader Datuk Darell Leiking, state assemblyman for Moyog who is also Warisan deputy president.

“The extraordinary population growth in Sabah of 300% between the 1970 and 2000 caused by massive influx of illegal immigrants is evidence of how serious this problem is.

“Issuance of Kad Burung Burung and other documents by the previous government also contributed to the misconception by these illegal migrants that they were recognized and that their stay was welcome.

“These illegal immigrants who got their ICs and later MyKad were registered as voters had eventually threatened the sovereignty of our state and country by having the right to choose a government through the ballot,” Edward said.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by The Borneo Post

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