Special committee to focus on foreign workers issue before big picture migrant solution, says Kitingan

KOTA KINABALU: A special committee to tackle long-standing migrant issues in Sabah will be focusing on the immediate concern of foreign workers first, says Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

"My focus (initially) will be on the foreign workers," said the Deputy Chief Minister.

Earlier in the week, Kitingan was appointed by the Sabah Cabinet to head the Special Committee on Foreign Workers and Foreign Nationals in Sabah.

He said that the committee hoped to obtain feedback from all quarters towards finding a resolution to Sabah's long-standing migrant problem.

"It's good to have many suggestions. It is important to put together a combination of viable ideas.

"Everyone has their opinion but at the end of the day, why don't we sit down and then we come up with the best solutions. I don’t mind many suggestions, in fact the more the better," he told reporters after launching a youth environmental programme in Putatan near here on Saturday (Feb 19).

Kitangan was responding to a suggestion by former chief minister Tan Sri Mohd Harris Salleh for a referendum on the migrant issue while another former chief minister, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, called for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"I don’t want when they come and agree to a solution, but when they go outside they say something else," he added.

Kitingan also dismissed claims that the committee was likely to shape the solution similar to the controversial Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) that was shot down two years ago when it was proposed by the Federal Government during the Warisan-led state government.

"We have not yet come out with any proposals as a solution. This is why we are doing this exercise, so it's not fair to say it is the same with PSS, because it might not be, we’ve not come up with a solution yet," he said adding, that a preliminary report will be ready in three months.

"After that, we will look for a firm solution, that is my target," he added.

A proposal last week by the Federal Government to issue Foreigners Card was shot down by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah parties as well as the opposition who said that Sabah it was a step towards legalising the foreigners in Sabah.

The committee set up by the state is hoped to find a "once and for all" solution to the nagging undocumented migrant problem of the state.