STATE REFORM PARTY (STAR) SABAH: What about Flood Aid for Sabahans? - YB DATUK DR. JEFFREY KITINGAN

YB Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan is the Chairman of STAR Sabah and State Assemblymen for N33, Bingkor, Sabah.

He also contested in P180, Keningau garnering 11900 strong votes

KOTA KINABALU - “It must have been really disappointing for flood victims in Sabah and Sarawak seeing the actions of the federal government in dishing out aid after aid for the flood victims in the Peninsula” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief in querying further about federal flood aid for Sabah and Sarawak flood victims and the hand delivery of RM9.6 million of federal aid by Najib himself together with television sets and other items in Kemamam with another RM10 million aid to be from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry.

It is not that Sabahans and Sarawakians are begrudging the granting of aid from the federal government to the victims in the Peninsula.  It is about the treatment of Sabah and Sarawak flood victims by the federal government. 

The flood aid is even hand-delivered by the PM himself in Terengganu and Pahang and the aid included even television sets, refrigerators, pillows and mattresses and stoves amounting to RM5,000 per family.   Sabahans, unfortunately, will be getting nothing, not even a single sen, not even a single pillow.

While part of the RM10 million, about RM1.5 million is earmarked for losses suffered by victims in Sarawak, the mere fact that nothing is done to determine the Sarawakians’ losses involved re-affirms the lack of priority of the federal government towards Sabahans and Sarawkians.  Is it justified that only 15% of the aid is reserved for Sarawakians with Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan receiving 85%.

The federal government and leaders from the Peninsula always seem to conveniently forget that it was Sabah and Sarawak that formed Malaysia with Malaya.   There would be no Malaysia without Sabah and Sarawak.

More importantly, without the support from Sabah and Sarawak, the present federal government and their Ministers would be in the opposition and not in power as the federal government.

For the flood victims in the Peninsula, the federal agencies were mobilized in full force.  Where were they during the floods in Sabah?  The PM himself failed to visit the flood-hit areas in Sabah while he was in Kota Kinabalu attending a wedding reception.

“Why are the flood victims in Sabah and Sarawak not being given the federal flood aid of RM500.00 and why is Sabah left out of the RM10 million agricultural and livestock aid? queried Dr. Jeffrey.

Why are Sabahans not treated as equal Malaysians by the federal government?

Why is the federal government alienating Sabahans?

Is it because Sabahans are not Malays? asked Dr. Jeffrey.

Perhaps, it is time for the PM and the federal government to clear the air on federal flood aid for Sabahans before Sabahans are irked further by the federal government.

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STATE REFORM PARTY (STAR) SABAH: Implement Similar I-Card for Non-Sabahans - YB DATUK DR. JEFFREY KITINGAN

YB Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan is the Chairman of STAR Sabah and State Assemblymen for N33, Bingkor, Sabah.

He also contested in P180, Keningau garnering 11900 strong votes

KOTA KINABALU -  “The federal government and Home Ministry’s plan to issue 2.5 million i-Kad to foreign workers shows the double-faced attitude and lack of seriousness and political will to solve the illegal immigrants problem in Sabah.   It only serve to confirm the Umno-led federal government’s hand in the issuance of dubious ICs and MyKads in Sabah” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief responding on the Home Ministry’s i-Kad plan for foreign workers.

The illegal immigrants and the dubious ICs have already returned to haunt Malaysians and the federal government in the Peninsula with the discovery of fake MyKads amidst serious crimes and employment of foreigners with fake MyKads as security personnel.

It will not be surprising if many of these foreigners with fake MyKads are already in the government service.

The move to issue the i-Kad with biometric security features only serve to show that the only way to resolve the dubious MyKads and ICs in Sabah is the recalling of all ICs issued in Sabah and to issue a new Sabah IC for genuine Sabahans.  This will weed out all non-Sabahans and those that have been given dubious ICs under Project IC, Ops Durian Buruk or whatever name it may be called.

It re-affirms the widespread opinion that the Umno-led federal government is not serious in tackling the problems of illegal immigrants and illegal holders of MyKads in Sabah. 

It may also be a precursor to the lack of seriousness of the government to address the RCI findings.   The RCI can only have a finding that there was large scale unwarranted issuance of ICs and voting rights to illegals, many of whom can be said to be born twice, once in their country of origin and another in Sabah.

It is not likely that the Umno Sabah-led Sabah government will take any action on their own either since many of the dubious ICs issued were to Umno members and actively recruited by many current senior Umno Sabah leaders.

The unenvious task now falls on the non-Umno Sabah BN components to push their Sabah government into action to recall all ICs issued in Sabah since 1963 and to implement the issuance of a Sabah IC for genuine Sabahans and a “Non-Sabahan Resident Card” for all non-genuine Sabahans.  This way, the federal government will not be able to issue MyKads to illegals as Sabahans and they cannot be placed in the electoral rolls and used as voters for hire to keep the Umno/BN government in power.

The probability of the Umno government mis-using illegals as voters in future general election is very high if they are left to control the issuance of ICs and MyKads.   The potential voters for hire are already in place with many schools recently reporting high incidents of illegals registering as new students, some even more than local students.

“The Sabah IC is the only way to ensure that the security and sovereignty of Sabah are genuinely protected” stressed Dr. Jeffrey.

The recent more than 20 incidents of drive-by shooting and damage of business premises in Kota Kinabalu including 5-star hotels and banks shows the urgency to re-establish security in Sabah. 

Ideally, the Sabah government need to regain control of immigration, national registration and security to safeguard the sovereignty of Sabah as well as the security and well-being of all Sabahan Malaysians.   This can be done with the establishment of a Sabah Homeland Security Ministry.    

The i-Kad shows that the illegal immigrants problem in Sabah can be resolved with issuance of Sabah’s own registration card system.

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