VIDEO l 2:35 mins

PARLIAMENT Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Wan Jaafar today linked the increasing rate of MyKad being lost to foreigners obtaining identity cards with ease.

NONE Wan Junaidi ( left ) said nearly 400,000 MyKad were reported lost in 2010, and this increased drastically to more than 565,000 cards lost until October this year.

"The ministry cannot dismiss the possibility that cards belonging to others are being used by foreigners due some people's negligence in losing their MyKad.

"The ones that are stolen may be sold to syndicates by irresponsible people," Wan Junaidi told the Dewan Rakyat in replying to Marcus Majigoh (BN-Putatan) during Question Time.

He said that the government is set to take "drastic" action to curb the loss of MyKad.

However, Wan Junaidi did not elaborate on the matter, saying that the government is still awaiting the attorney-general's (AG) approval.

"There will need to be legislative changes so we are waiting for the AG's green light," he said.

Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said that the government could not make a decision yet on the proposal to re-issue all MyKads in the state of Sabah.

“We can’t decide yet on the matter,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Darell Leiking (PKR-Penampang) on the same issue.

Darell asked the government if it would re-issue ICs to Sabahans after this proposal was made during the recent royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah.

“We will wait for the RCI to come up with its report and its recommendations, then the cabinet will consider it and make a decision,” Wan Junaidi said.

He then “reminded” Darell that cabinet is the top decision-maker in the country.