Continued silence as Sulus pursue claim

Tamparuli assemblyman Wilfred Bumburing said it was alarming that despite numerous calls for action, BN leaders remained indifferent to a scandal that has compromised national security.

KOTA KINABALU: The latest statement by the new Sulu Sultan that the Sulu Sultanate will continue to pursue its claim on Sabah is disquieting, said Tamparuli assemblyman Wilfred Bumburing.

He said it was alarming that despite numerous calls for action, Barisan Nasional (BN) government leaders were being indifferent to a scandal that has compromised national security.

He questioned the government’s continued silence over what is turning out to be the exposure of a decades-long immigration fiasco in Sabah.

Bumburing, who president of Movement for Change Sabah (APS), said that by their silence, state and federal authorities are confirming the long-held suspicion that a citizenship-for-votes scheme was an exercise to re-engineer the state’s population demographics.

“In fact the Malaysian government seems to portray Malaysia as being a country that is not affected at all with the influx of illegal immigrants coming into this country especially those illegals landing on Sabah shores,” he said recently.

He echoed Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan’s demand that the federal government recall all identity cards (ICs) issued by the National Registration Department (NRD) in Sabah for review.

Bumburing said the exposure of a recent case involving a robbery suspect in possession of a genuine MyKad and similar cases should be enough justification by the authorities to recall citizenship documents issued to hundreds of thousands residing in Sabah.

He also questioned how many of the over 860,000 foreigners identified in the 2010 census had been granted citizenship.

Bumburing also said that it was disquieting that the sudden population surge experienced by Sabah took place after 1990, the year Umno spread its wings to the state.

“Perhaps, a new kind of Mykad solely for Sabah-born Malaysians may be considered if the NRD continues to issues Mykad to undeserving citizens,” he said.