KOTA KINABALU: Deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan has brushed aside accusations that the state government is proposing to issue identity cards to foreigners similar to the previously rejected Sabah temporary pass (PSS).
Kitingan said the newly-formed Sabah special committee on undocumented foreign workers and foreign nationals, of which he is the chairman, had not decided on the best method to address the migrants’ issue in the state.
“That’s why we are doing this exercise. It’s not fair to say this is the same as the PSS because it might not be,” he told reporters after launching a youth environmental programme in Putatan near here today.
“We’ve not come up with a solution yet. But my focus will be on foreign workers first.”
The special committee led by Kitingan has been tasked with collecting inputs from law enforcement agencies, industry players as well as political and community leaders on how best to address the issue of undocumented foreign workers and their dependents in Sabah.
Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking and Sabah DAP secretary Phoong Jin Zhe had previously asked what was different between the proposed identity cards for foreigners and the PSS that was mooted during the Pakatan Harapan-Warisan administration.
Leiking said home minister Hamzah Zainudin, who is also Bersatu secretary-general, appeared to be merely trying to revive the PSS under a different name.
The previous government dropped the PSS following Warisan’s defeat to Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Kimanis by-election in January 2020. Warisan’s loss was largely attributed to the PSS issue.
BN and other local opposition parties at the time had played up the issue in the by-election, claiming it would lead to the granting of citizenship to illegal immigrants and that it was also a threat to the sovereignty of Sabah and the country. BN did likewise in the state elections campaign in September 2020.
Hamzah’s announcement over the proposal to provide the identity cards to foreigners has drawn much criticism from both sides of the political divide as well as local leaders.
Hamzah had, however, defended the proposal, saying it was about time the migrants’ issue in Sabah was addressed through new solutions.
Kitingan welcomed views from everyone, including community and political leaders, over the proposal to issue identity cards to foreigners.
“Everyone has their own opinions but, at the end of the day, why don’t we sit down and put them together so we can see which combination is viable and come up with the best solution,” he said.
Kitingan had set a target of three months to prepare a paper on the issue to be presented to the state Cabinet.
He was responding to proposals from former chief ministers Harris Salleh and Bernard Dompok over the issue.
Harris had suggested that Putrajaya and the Sabah government hold a referendum to establish whether a special card should be issued to undocumented workers. Dompok proposed the setting up of a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to address the problem of undocumented migrants. - FMT
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