The proposed population boom signature campaign in Sabah has seen prominent local activist Patrick Sindu come under fire from state politicians.

The campaign was aimed at urging the federal government to initiate a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe the influx of foreigners into the state.

The politicians, especially from Umno, have accused Sindu of trying to interfere with the government's efforts to try and flush out the illegal immigrants.

"Many of the politicians are afraid, they have been poisoned (to go against me). They have made promises to flush out illegal immigrants and they think I am interfering," said Sindu, who is also the Consumer Assocation of Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan president.

According to him, one Barisan Nasional (BN) Youth leader had even asked him if he was not appreciative of the (honorific) Datuk title conferred on him by the state government.

"I told him I never asked for the datukship. It was given to me.

"We're NGOs not political parties. We have no interest in politics. We are concerned citizens. We are only interested to see the Sabah rid itself of the illegal immigrants whose presence is causing enormous problems and worries for Sabahans," he said.

More must be done

Sindu reiterated that many Sabahans are not only concerned about the large number of illegal immigrants but also about the fact a "million or more of the people been given identity cards".

"This is about the illegals who came yesterday and given identity cards today," he said, adding that the recent development would not derail or discourage plans to proceed with the campaign.

The activist stressed that those involved in the campaign have no ulterior motives apart from urging the government to set up the commission.

"We are the concerned citizens who feel more must be done than just catching and deporting illegal immigrants," he said.

He added that the population explosion over the last 15 years because of the presence of illegal immigrats is causing enormous anxiety among the locals.

In 1970, seven years after becoming a part of Malaysia, Sabah's population was at 653,000. A decade later, it increased by 30 percent to 955,712.

It nearly doubled in 1991 to 1.7 million, including 423,000 non-Malaysians, and increased to 2.6 million (revised for some reasons downwards from 3.1 million), including 615,000 non-Malaysians, in 2000.

Previously, another prominent local activist Joshua Kong said the commission must investigate why so many identity cards were issued, who authorized it and under what law.