Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president Jeffrey Kitingan said that Sabahans, especially the indigenous peoples, were “staring at a bleak future” and afraid of becoming refugees in their own state.
He took the state government led by Shafie Apdal to task, saying it was not making serious efforts to address the people’s concerns.
“The general perception is that the indigenous peoples will soon be no longer the majority group in Sabah.
“Whether based on facts or fallacy, the overriding perception of the people is that the present government is encouraging the influx of even more immigrants.
“This needs to be addressed to allay the people’s fears, not just by word but by deed as well,” he said in a statement today
The MP for Keningau and assemblyman for Tambunan said that since coming to power, the Warisan-led government has appeared to be favouring the arrival of more immigrants from the southern Philippines.
“The chief minister’s idea in June last year – one month after taking office – that foreign workers could be allowed to bring in their spouses to Sabah has triggered questions on the motive behind such a move.
“The recent assurance by Sabah National Registration Department director Ismail Ahmad that there is no room for fraud in the birth certificate registration exercise is still suspect despite his exhaustive explanations,” he said.
He praised Ismail’s sincerity in performing his job but pointed out that there is always room or loopholes for fraud.
“What we need in that on-going exercise is more verification from community leaders as to the veracity of the birth certificate applicants,” he said.
He said the problem worsened after the state government failed to appoint new village heads.
This made the people more suspicious of the government’s motives, thinking the delay in the appointments was to avoid such approvals.
Jeffrey said people were also dismayed over recent speculation the population of Sabah had reached 3,900,000, with one-third being foreigners. Other sources had indicated that 2,600,000 of them were non-citizens.
“Why are the KDM (Kadazandusun Murut) leaders in the government no longer daring to speak up on these issues? What are they in the government for?” he asked.