Project IC: RCI concludes, deliberation begins

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah concluded today and the five member panel would begin deliberating the evidence from now.

KOTA KINABALU: Proceedings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah here concluded today to make way for RCI commissioners to deliberate on the evidence.

The five-man panel chaired by former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim Lip Kiong presided over a series of proceedings that began on Jan 14 with 211 witnesses produced.

“It has been a smooth process. There had been no tantrums, no throwing of chairs. All arguments were done in civilized order,” quipped Shim.

But in all seriousness, he said he and his fellow commissioners were now beginning the task of reviewing and brainstorming on the evidence that had been produced before them until Dec 21.

“We have voluminous reports, documents and evidence to go through. But we will try to finish it off and come up with a solution to the problem within the time frame given to us,” he said.

The other commissioners are former Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) vice chancellor Professor Dr Kamaruzzaman Ampon, former Kuala Lumpur police chief  Henry Chin Poy Wu, former Sabah deputy chief minister Herman J. Luping, who was also the state attorney-general, and former Sabah statesecretary KY Mustapha.

The conducting officers throughout the proceedings were Manoj Kurup, Azmi Ariffin and Jamil Aripin, while a team from the Sabah Law Association, led by John Sikayun, held a watching brief.

The establishment of the RCI and the appointment of Shim and panel members were announced by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on Aug 11 last year in a sincere move to solve the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah.

In announcing the terms of reference for the commission, Najib had said that they would among others investigate the number of immigrants in Sabah who were issued identity cards (ICs) or citizenship.

The inquiry had focused on whether the issuance of the blue ICs or citizenship to the immigrants was made based on the law as well as whether those who illegally obtained the blue ICs or temporary identification receipt (blue) or citizenship were registered in the Electoral Roll.

Relevant authorities were also sought after during the proceedings to determine whether they had taken any action or made efforts to improve standard operating procedures, methods and regulations to avoid non-conformity with the law with regard to the problem.

The inquiry also saw a number of high profile politicians giving their testimonies namely, former prime minister  Dr Mahathir Mohamad and opposition leader  Anwar Ibrahim as well as vocal state leaders on the issue such as Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

– Bernama