Panel to gather feedback on Sabah’s migrant issue

KOTA KINABALU: The special state committee to tackle long-standing Sabah migrant issues will focus on foreign workers, says Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

He said the committee hoped to obtain feedback to find a resolution to the state’s migrant problem.

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

“It’s good to have many suggestions. It’s also important to put together a combination of viable ideas.

“Everyone has their opinion, but why don’t we sit down and then come up with the best solution?

“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 yesterday.

Kitangan was responding to a suggestion by former chief minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh for a referendum to be held on the foreign migrant issue.

Another former chief minister, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, called for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to be formed.

Kitingan said he did not want people to agree to a solution when they meet, but talk differently when they were “on the outside”.

He also dismissed claims that the committee was likely to shape its solution similar to the controversial Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) that was shot down two years ago.

The PSS was proposed by the Federal Government during the Warisan-led state administration.

“We’ve not yet come out with any proposal. This is why we are doing this exercise, so it’s not fair to say it is the same with PSS,” he stressed.

He also said a preliminary report would be ready in three months.

“After that, we will look for a firm solution,” he added.

The committee hoped to find a “once and for all” solution to the illegal immigrant problem in the state.