‘SEND ICS TO SABAH’ LETTER FAKE

By : ANISAH SHUKRY

PETALING JAYA: A letter purportedly from the National Registration Department (NRD) ordering that all uncollected identification cards (IC) be sent to Sabah is fake, an NRD official said today.

“That letter is a fake. There has never been a procedure to send uncollected ICs anywhere except to the NRD headquarters in Putrajaya,” said NRD’s public relations officer Jainisah Mohd Noor.

“We lodged a police report over the letter at the police station in Putrajaya yesterday,” she told FMT.

Yesterday, PAS Vice-President Mahfuz Omar told reporters that he had received a “suspicious” letter allegedly signed by NRD director (identification card) division Md Solehan Omar and addressed to NRD’s state and district officers.

The letter, which was dated Dec 14 2012, said the auditor, who was temporarily in Keningau, Sabah would update the cards’ status in the NRD’s system from Sabah before sending the cards back to the NRD headquarters by Dec 31, 2012.

“If the contents of this letter is true, then it is possible that the ICs are sent to Sabah not for termination, but for manipulation,” Mahfuz had said.

“The ICs could be passed onto others, particularly immigrants,” the Pokok Sena MP had further suggested.

However, Jainisah said that division directors in NRD had no power to issue orders or sign letters to state and district officers.

“I’m not sure myself who is truly behind this fake letter, because all orders by NRD are issued and signed by the chief director alone.

“No division directors are given the power to issue such orders,” she stressed.

She also said that the records kept by NRD showed the last letter issued within the department last year was on Dec 10, not Dec 14.

“This order on Dec 14 does not exist,” she said.

Asked what further action would NRD would take over the fake letter, Jainisah said they would wait for the police to investigate.

Explain unclaimed ICs

Meanwhile, FMT’s attempts to get a response from Md Solehan was unsuccessful as officers said he would be in Sabah until Monday.

But in a press conference this morning, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed Jainisah’s assertion today that the letter was fake.

“The letter is fake. It’s fake. The allegations are being based on a false letter.

“I urge the public who do not have political motivations not to believe the accusations that certain parties are making,” the minister was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini.

In an immediate response, Mahfuz told FMT: “Never mind, but the issue now is how many ICs remain unclaimed. The NRD must inform us of this.”

He also poured scorn on the NRD for lodging the police report “just yesterday”.

“I feel that they are slow. Only when I reveal the letter do they come out and say it’s fake. How did the letter come to me in the first place, then?” demanded Mahfuz.

The PAS leader had told reporters yesterday that the letter was posted to him by an unknown individual.

“This letter may have even be circulated to many other places, including the NRD’s district offices,” Mahfuz pointed out.

“If I hadn’t come up with this letter yesterday, then NRD wouldn’t have taken any action at all and this fake latter would have been sent to just anywhere.”