'Difficult to safeguard Sabah borders due to inland foreigners'

KOTA KINABALU, July 14: A senior Opposition politician has blamed the Barisan Nasional government for the rampant happenings in the east coast of Sabah. In accusing the ruling coalition of creating “monsters”, Sabah State Reform Party (Sabah Star) chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said that the state’s poor security had been compromised by its porous border and rampant issuance of MyKad for political expediency. This, he believed, had turned Sabah into a haven for terrorists, militants and kidnappers. Responding to the fatal intrusion-cum-kidnapping at the Mabul Water Bungalow Resort, off Semporna, on Saturday night, Jeffrey pointed out this was the fifth reported security breach and incident in a span of four months. It also occurred weeks after discovering security risks among its own security personnel. “What is happening to Sabah’s security? It seems that Sabah is becoming even more insecure since the establishment of the Eastern Sabah Security Comman (Esscom) and its latest restructuring does not help. “It makes me wonder if the federal government is addressing the Sabah security problems correctly. “Is Esscom the right answer to our security problems? Or are there more serious and fundamental social issues that need to be identified and addressed?” Jeffrey also claimed that the Umno-led federal government had been recruiting illegal immigrants as members and “fixed deposit voters” via Project IC, the name used to describe the allegation of systematic granting of citizenship to immigrants. The recent incidents, including the intrusion in February, Jeffrey claimed, had a common denominator in the possession of MyKad. He said it was this reason that made it so difficult to safeguard Sabah’s borders, since many of them were already in Sabah’s borders. Jeffrey noted that besides the ordinary illegal immigrants on the streets, there were also a huge number of “inland foreigners”, numbering some 900,000. “The government, it seems, has no political will to send them home or to resolve their presence as well as their needs.” The attack-cum-kidnapping on Mabul Island came after the Esscom restructuring and the Prime Minister’s short visit to the state, the timing of which was very significant, according to Jeffrey. “I wonder what message these kidnappers and intruders are sending to the federal and Sabah governments? “That you cannot handle them? That we are no match for them? That they are everywhere? That they are the monsters the government created?” Jeffrey stressed the people of Sabah deserved an answer and hoped there would be better security for the state. Read more: http://ift.tt/1nmlaAh



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