SABAH RCI The royal commission of inquiry (RCI) report, issued yesterday, is seen as the starting point of resolving the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah once and for all.

Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan said the report must be followed by drastic action by the government through its various enforcement agencies to ensure that illegal immigrants would no longer be an issue in Sabah.

“The hope is that it (the report) would be followed through. The government has said that it is going to take drastic action. This is what we are all waiting for.

“So, the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah has been admitted and that syndicates have been involved,” said Pairin, who is also Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister, to reporters at the Public Works Department’s excellence service appreciation ceremony in Kota Kinabalu today.

The RCI report, titled ‘Commssion of Inquiry on Immigrants in Sabah’, was released by chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa, yesterday.

Pairin ( left ) said the first step that should be taken by the government was to prevent further entry of illegal immigrants into Sabah and to ensure that foreigners without proper travel documents were not allowed in the state.

He hoped the establishment of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) and Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) and with additional security manpower in the Esszone, the entry of illegal immigrants could be better stemmed.

On his appointment as chairperson of the working committee as recommended by the report, Pairin said he could not say much about it for the time being but would consult various parties for the next course of action.

Meanwhile, Sabah Umno deputy liaison chief Salleh Said Keruak voiced full support for the state cabinet’s urging on the relevant authorities to take drastic action against the culprits behind the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah.

He said the remarks made by Chief Minister Musa Aman on the state cabinet’s stand on the matter was reflective of its sincerity and seriousness in resolving the longstanding problem.

“Now is the time to move forward on meaningful reform of our approaches and policies to tackle the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah once and for all.

“Of course, we cannot solve this problem overnight... but at least it gives us a glimpse of hope to end the illegal immigrant saga. What is important now is for us to be united in realising this cause,” he said in a statement in Kota Kinabalu today.

Salleh, who is also state legislative assembly speaker, said the RCI report had shed some light on some irresponsible individuals who were involved in the illegal issuance of identity cards (ICs) for monetary gain and hoped the authorities would bring these culprits to justice.

He said the people of Sabah should accept the findings of the RCI which were based on evidence and he called on the public not to politicise the ‘Project IC’ issue for political gain.

‘Report brings relief to Suluk community’

In TAWAU, Sabah Suluk Solidarity Council (MPSS) secretary Mohd Zaki Harry Susanto said all quarters in Sabah should accept the RCI findings with an open heart instead of making negative assumptions, as the investigations were conducted transparently and without interference by parties with vested interests.

He said the release of the RCI report also brought relief to the local Suluk community as many questions that were often linked to the community all this while, had been answered.

“It is clear that all the blue ICs obtained by the ethnic Suluk in Sabah were applied for between the 1970s and 1980s, and are genuine and therefore, should not be disputed.

“However, we cannot reject the possible existence of the ‘Project IC’ as mentioned in the RCI findings, but we should blame this on those individuals who lacked integrity in carrying out the duties entrusted to them as public servants,” he said.

Mohd Zaki said his association also welcomed the setting up of two committees in tackling the issue of illegals in Sabah, as announced by the chief secretary to the government.

Yesterday, Ali was quoted as saying that the government had agreed to set up a permanent committee to deal with the issue as recommended by the RCI.

The committee is to be jointly chaired by the Sabah chief minister and the home minister, and will report to the federal cabinet chaired by the prime minister.

He said a working committee chaired by Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan would also be formed.

Ali was also quoted as stressing that the RCI investigations did not find the unlawful issuance of blue ICs to illegal immigrants in Sabah, purportedly under ‘Project IC’, to be politically motivated but financially motivated.

The independent RCI, formed on Aug 11, 2012, was chaired by former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Steve Shim Lip Kiong.

Others in the committee were former vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah Prof Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon, former Kuala Lumpur police chief Henry Chin Poy Wu, former Sabah state secretary KY Mustafa and former Sabah attorney-general Herman J Luping.

- Bernama

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