PENAMPANG: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Joseph Pairin Kitingan said that there is merit in the suggestion that the federal government set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate immigration problems in Sabah.
He said that by having a commission, it showed the sincerity and transparency on the part of the government in tackling the state’s immigrant problem once and for all.
“Everybody knows Sabah is grappling with illegal immigration for quite some time. Of course the people want to know how this problem came about and how to sort it out from all angles.
“That’s why we in PBS support the formation of Royal Commission of Inquiry. In fact, this is nothing new. PBS had been fighting this for a long time,” he told reporters when met at the PBS Chap Goh Mei celebration in conjunction with the Chinese New Year, here today.
Pairin, who is Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, was asked to comment on the statement by Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein on Monday, rejecting a suggestion for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Sabah’s immigrant problem.
Pairin said the call for the seting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry did not mean that the federal government had not done anything to overcome the problems.
Acknowledging the government’s efforts on this matter, he hoped for more practical and concrete solutions from the laboratory on illegal immigrants under the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) soon.
On the issue of the “extraordinary growth” of the Sabah population by 500%, Pairin said this needed to be investigated.
Yesterday, United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) Youth leader, Arthur Sen, said according to the 1970 census, Sabah’s total population was only 636,431 but had risen to 3,313,000 in 2005, saying “this extraordinary growth causes concern among the local population who feel their security is threathened by the influx of “instant citizens” and immigrants”.
-Bernama
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