Home ministry urged to reconsider disbanding Sarawak citizenship committee

KUCHING: The Sarawak Women for Women Society has urged the home ministry to reconsider disbanding the Sarawak Special Committee on Citizenship.

Its president, Margaret Bedus, said the committee had proven effective in handling citizenship application cases more quickly and with respect to native and state sensitivities.

She also spoke of the need for transparency in standard operating procedures, and for key resource people at both federal and state levels to be identifiable to those tracking their applications. She also said procedures and decisions must be efficiently communicated, especially to those living in remote areas.

“This will require better access to government services, including a more effective, systematic outreach to semi-urban and rural areas; sensitivity training to the front-liners handling registration matters; and better collaboration between services,” she said in a statement.

Margaret said Sarawak needs to be treated differently from states in the peninsula due to the complexities arising from a dispersed and diverse population.

The decision to discontinue the committee and to have all cases in Sarawak referred to or submitted to the ministry for coordination purposes was conveyed by home ministry secretary-general Alwi Ibrahim on July 22. - FMT