The Sabah state government will set up a special committee to investigate allegations made against Sri Tanjung state assemblyperson, Jimmy Wong, in the state assembly yesterday.

State Local Government and Housing Minister Hajiji Noor confirmed this.

According to the minister, Abidin Madingkir, his ministry's permanent secretary, will head the special committee.

"The government views the allegations seriously," said Hajiji. He said action would be taken against Wong if necessary but no timeframe had been set for the special committee as yet.

Several allegations were made about Wong during the state assembly sitting but Hajiji only focused on one about the state assemblyperson's sijil anak negeri (SAN) or native certificate. It could not be immediately confirmed whether the special committee would probe all allegations against Wong.

Among other allegations is that the DAP representative owned a resort in Semporna, as well as encroached onto government land when renovating his house.

"He (Wong) pretends to champion the Sabindo open space issue and at the same time fences up an open space behind his house," said Sekong state assemblyperson Samsudin Yahya who led the attack in the house yesterday against Wong.

Samsudin also wanted to know whether Wong had used his native certificate to profit from cheap purchases of native land.

Attack on Wong's credibility

The state assembly session was debating the 2010 budget. The session degenerated into a war of words between Wong and Samsudin when the possibility of non-natives holding native certificates was raised.

The police, Election Commission (EC) and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) were asked to investigate how Wong obtained his native certificate.

Samsudin also challenged Wong to vacate his seat if the allegations made against the latter were proven.

The Sekong state assemblyperson also accused Wong of breaching ethics and integrity as a state assemblyperson, of being a liar and cheat and being unfit to represent his constituency. In fact, added Samsudin, Wong should be immediately removed as a state assemblyperson.

Wong protested that Samsudin should not have used words like "liar" to describe him in the house. In his defence, he claimed that he and his elder brother applied for the native certificate after he came back from England in the early 1980s.

Applications were then open to the public and have since been frozen after the state government detected irregularities.

"I was not born in China but Sabah. So, am I not an anak negeri (native) also?" asked Wong who confirmed that he obtained his native certificate sometime in 1982. "If you (state government) think the native certificate is not suitable for me, you can take it back."

The Sri Tanjung state assemblyperson said he had never used the certificate outside of getting a bank loan at reduced interest rates. Neither did he abuse his native certificate to buy up native land cheaply and profit from it, he added.

Wong made a target over Sabindo issue

On the Semporna resort, Wong told the house that it was abandoned by investors following a dispute, and also due to pirate attacks in the area and Lahad Datu. He "revived" the project at the request of former governor Sakaran Dandai who is from Semporna.

Wong pledged that he would demolish the non-permanent fence and guardhouse built around a government road reserve, totalling 1,000 square metres, around his house as soon as possible.

Residents, under local government regulations in Sabah, are allowed to make use of government land around their property with permission. It is not known whether Wong obtained such permission.

Wong says his championing the Sabindo open space issue motivated the state assembly attacks on his character.

Samsudin, when asked whether he would be lodging a report against Wong replied in the negative, saying it should be up to the Tawau Municipal Council.