Sabah PKR deputy chief Kong Hong Ming has accused the NRD (National Registration Department) in Putrajaya of being ignorant of the laws in Sabah and brushed off news reports on the MyKad controversy in Tawau .

Kong was reacting to a statement, 'NRD: Allegations baseless', issued by the department in Putrajaya yesterday.

However, he welcomes the assurances of the NRD in Putrayaya on citizenship status and a pledge to take "stern action if it is proven that its officers were involved in unlawful acts".

"We are surprised that the NRD public relations officer in Putrajaya came out with a statement without the Sabah NRD interviewing us on our allegations. It would seem that they are not interested in what we had to say and what other evidence we have in our possession," said Kong.

Kong wants the Sabah NRD director, as a result, to either resign or be sacked for incompetence.

"The Sabah NRD has also been playing hide and seek with the media who have been ringing them for explanations. Does Putrajaya know better than the Sabah NRD?"

NONE Kong said that he is in the midst of compiling even more evidence of ‘shady going-ons' at the Sabah NRD and the Elections Commission.

For starters, Kong disputes the truthfulness and legality of the name list given by the community leader of Kampung Kalabakan Tengah 1 to the NRD "since there are eye-witnesses who can testify RM 50 per applicant was collected".

He that in the past, these are the very people who had aided and abetted in the issue of Malaysian personal documents to illegal immigrants.

"Anti-illegal immigration activists Dr Chong Eng Leong and Mutalib MD. also claim to loads of evidence against the NRD.

But the NRD has not moved even an inch on these allegations."

Meanwhile, going solely by the NRD Putrajaya figures for Felda Tengah 1 Hall Kalabakan, Kong wants a breakdown of the figures by nationality or statelessness for the 242 late registrations of births and a similar breakdown for the 128 applications rejected under the same category.

He said he has his suspicions based on the number of Bugis milling around the registration hall in Kalabakan for three days last month.

All births must be registered

Kalabakan MP Abdul Ghapur Salleh has also issued a public statement along similar lines, said Kong.

"While we can accept that all births in Malaysia must be registered, this must be subject to the relevant laws and time frames," said Kong.

"The NRD must categorically state that it has not allowed late registration of births for foreigners in Sabah under the Sabah Births and Deaths Ordinance which allows for an indefinite delay. Foreigners must be subject to the National Registration of Births and Deaths 1975 and in that case, they cannot indefinitely delay registration," he said.

Kong's take on the registration of births, as a practicing lawyer is that if non-Malaysians in Sabah - except for non-Malaysian Sabahans - don't report the birth of their children within a reasonable time frame, they would not get a Malaysian birth certificate under the National Act.

In the past, there have also been many cases of illegal immigrants claiming to be the children of Malaysians - generally those in the police for example - in order to secure Malaysian personal documents, continued Kong.

Kong also wants an explanation on a case-by-case basis from the NRD for the 128 applications for late registration of birth that were rejected "and why did they turn up if they were not eligible or were they rejected because they were not on the community leader's list?"

"Were there any stateless people among these applicants?" he asked. "How many of these stateless people, if any, are Sabahans who are not Malaysians?"

The PKR Tawau strongman also wants the NRD to explain why it was necessary for the Special Branch, the Immigration Department and the Elections Commission to be present during the mobile operation.

The NRD Putrajaya has disclosed that the mobile operation was a "joint operation" which also included the mobile court, Tawau Police, the Tawau District Office and the Tawau Branch of Rela.

On the first day, Aug 10, the Home Affairs Ministry and NRD Putrajaya were reportedly represented.

The next day, the MACC (Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission) monitored the registration activities, according to the NRD PutraJaya.

"It is strange that the MACC was also present. Is this going to be a permanent feature for mobile registrations?" asked Kong.

"The only organisations not present were Suhakam (Human Rights Commission) which is said to have recorded many of complaints against the NRD and also various NGOs who have in the past raised many queries on IC issues with the NRD."

Kong, although disappointed with the Sabah NRD, welcomed the speedy response by Putrajaya.

He's also happy that the NRD mobile registration team has no plans to return to Kalabakan village in the near future since he's not convinced that everything was above board during their visit last month.