KOTA KINABALU: An investigation should be carried if a Sabah government-linked company board member is the same person who claimed he had entered Malaysia and obtained citizenship via dubious means in the 1980s, says Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin.
Chan said he was surprised to learn in the Dewan Rakyat that the National Registration Department (NRD) did not receive any report against Peer Mohamad Kadir, the person in question, over the matter.
Chan said he was baffled by the answer from Deputy Home Minister Jonathan Yasin in Parliament last week, despite the furore over the issue earlier this year.
"The Deputy Minister said that as no report was lodged, no investigation was commenced over the allegation against the person in question about obtaining his identity card illegally in Sabah in the 1980s," he said in a statement here on Wednesday (Aug 3).
Chan contended the matter warranted a serious probe despite there being no reports filed over the issue, claiming there was sufficient evidence available in the public domain.
This included the report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants led by former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.
"Is the Deputy Minister saying that the report clearly stating the evidence given during the inquiry, given under oath can be swept under the carpet and ignored?
Several activists as well as Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) raised the issue of "Peer Mohamad Kadir" last January, saying they wanted the state government to clarify the citizenship status of the politician who was appointed to the board of directors of Sawit Kinabalu.
They called for the government to clarify the matter after claims surfaced over his acquiring the Malaysian identity card via dubious means at the time.
The Sabah Progressive Party also pushed for answers from the state government.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor subsequently said a probe would be conducted to find out if the board member in Sawit Kinabalu was the same person.
Despite only hearing about the matter on social media, Hajiji said the matter would be investigated.
"I have no further details yet but the name mentioned is of the person we have appointed to Sawit Kinabalu as a board member and he is the state MIC chairman," he told reporters on Jan 18.
But despite assurances from Hajiji, Chan said no answers have been given to the public, adding Peer Mohamad had not issued any statement and distanced himself from the issue.
Chan also trained his guns at PBS, challenging its president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili to disclose details of the police report the latter said his party would lodge against Peer Mohamad last January.
He said this was in order to show PBS was serious in their call for authorities to investigate and take action against those who obtained their ICs through illegal means, instead of just giving lip service.
He added Ongkili had claimed during the PBS convention last June that a Barisan component party had given out ICs to undocumented migrants in Sabah in exchange for votes.
Ongkili had said last January that a background check must be made on Sabah MIC chairman Peer Mohamad Kadir, who shares the same name as the person whose citizenship is in question.
Activists claiming the person with the name admitted in the 2013 RCI that he entered Sabah via India in 1984 and obtained his Malaysian citizenship via dubious means several years later.
Ongkili, who is also Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Minister, had said it was vital for the matter to be clarified, since PBS had always been a strong advocate of keeping Sabah free of illegal immigrants.
He added then the PBS Youth wing would lodge a police report over the matter.
