Reveal findings of royal commission on illegals, Sabah reps tell Putrajaya

Sabah opposition lawmakers today demanded that Putrajaya make public the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on illegal immigrants in the state that was submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong two months ago.

They said that the restructuring of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscomm), as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak this morning, was not enough without a solution to the problem of illegal immigrants in the state.

"We want Najib to make known the content of the RCI report to the public. We have been waiting for two months," Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan (pic) told The Malaysian Insider.

Kitingan, who is also Sabah Star party chief, said the RCI would be meaningless without action and a solution to the "Project IC" problem.

He said Naib's announcement today to restructure Esscomm would also be futile if the influx of illegals was not addressed.

"In fact, it is the federal government who have made us insecure by helping Muslims in the Southern Philippines with weapons, shelter and Malaysian identity cards in exchange for their votes," he said.

Kitingan added that Putrajaya was only using Sabah as their political playground in order to control the state and its resources.

Tamparuli assemblyman Datuk Seri Wilfred M. Bumburing said he would push for the report to be tabled in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly next week.

"The people of Sabah have a right to know about the sudden and dramatic increase in the population and what the government plans to do to resolve this perennial problem," he said.

The Angkatan Perubahan Sabah president said he was aware of security issues  which may warrant some facts not to be disclosed in its totality.

"Generally we want to know whether or not the problem of foreigners having been issued with MyKad through questionable methods will be resolved.

"And the problem of state and national security, sovereignty and true independence for Sabahans in the context of Malaysia will be honoured and upheld," he added.

Bumburing, who was Upko deputy president but left the Barisan Nasional component party just before the 13th general election, said he was very certain that the memorandum he had presented to the Home Ministry was true and justified.

The former Tuaran MP had called for the home ministry to nullify all MyKad issued dubiously.

DAP Sabah vice-chairman Chan Foong Hin also urged the prime minister to release the findings of the RCI immediately and table it for debate in the coming parliament session and Sabah state assembly sitting.

Chan said the restructuring of Esscom alone would not guarantee Sabahans their safety.

"Stern action to clean up the problem of illegal immigrants with MyKad is the test for our government to prove its political will," he said.

RCI chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong, who is a former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, had said it was up to the government to decide on the report.

“All I can say is, the public will know when the report is released,” he said after leading the RCI panel on a courtesy call to the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at Istana Negeri in Kota Kinabalu on May 19.

The Commission which was set up on September 21, 2012, called 211 witnesses in the proceedings which ended on Septemer 20 last year.

Among the notable witnesses were former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and former Chief Ministers of Sabah, including Datuk Harris Salleh and Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

Najib announced on June 1, 2012, that Putrajaya had agreed to set up the RCI to investigate problems related to illegal immigrants in Sabah, including the issuance of Malaysian documents to Muslim illegal immigrants under a scheme known as Project IC.

- TMI