Kitingan hopeful for cooperation from all on Sabah immigrants issue

 By Olivia Miwil - February 19, 2022 @ 2:53pm

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan planting a tree at a preschool in Putatan as a symbolic launching of "We Be-Leaf Together" programme. - NSTP/ OLIVIA MIWIL

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is hopeful that all relevant stakeholders including politicians will work together for a solution on the Sabah immigrants issue.

Kitingan who has been appointed by the state cabinet this week to lead the special committee on resolving the undocumented foreigners and immigrants issue in Sabah said he has set a three-month deadline to produce a preliminary report.

"I will be meeting with all the stakeholders and the legal people on what should be done.

"We need law enforcement people to know what is the problem in the enforcement; meeting with employers to know what are the problems; meet non-governmental organisations and community leaders, as well as political leaders who are making the noise," he said during the launching of "We Be-Leaf" initiative programme at a pre-school here.

Jeffrey said the state government requires a complete data collection on the foreign workers as the present information is scarce and scattered.

He said the data and information compiled from different stakeholders would also address the issues related to economic needs and whether those foreigners are being exploited.

When asked whether the committee would come up with a similar solution as the previous Warisan-PH government on the issuance of documents for immigrants, Kitingan said it would not be fair to make the comparison as no fixed decision is being made yet.

The Tambunan assemblyman also welcomed all other suggestions as the long-standing illegal immigrant's issue in Sabah was everyone's problem.

Previously, political leaders voiced their disagreement following Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin's proposal to issue identity cards for the foreign workers in Sabah.

Among those who objected to the move include former Chief Minister's Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Datuk Yong Teck Lee who instead called upon the deportation of illegal immigrants to their country of origin.

Other proposals resolving the illegal immigrant issue includes focusing on the re-issuance of identity cards for genuine Malaysians and preventing the entry of illegal immigrants into the state.