ALOR SETAR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has denied claims that immigration detention depots are experiencing overcrowding.
According to him, so far there are about 13,000 illegal immigrants in 19 immigration detention depots across the country.
“The only situation where the depots experienced congestion was during the Covid-19 period because we could not repatriate them.
“Right now, there are 19 depots, the number of immigrants is 13,000, where is the congestion? There is no congestion,” he told reporters after the handing over of letters of appointment to members of Federal Village Development and Security Committees in Kedah for 2024, as reported by Bernama.
Saifuddin Nasution said the Immigration Department conducts operations from time to time to detect foreigners who do not have valid documents or expired documents covering various sectors such as construction, plantation and manufacturing.
The minister said based on several operations, out of every 10 foreigners who were checked, 80% of them had valid documents, while 20% did not have such documents.
Commenting on Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s request for the Federal Government to approve additional allocations for the construction and upgrading of five water treatment plants (LRA) in Kedah immediately, Saifuddin Nasution – who is also state Development Action Council co-chairman – said the reason for the delay is because the project needs to be identified first.
“Before we get to considering proposals to increase costs, budget and so on, we will make a decision based on an analysis of the causes that lead to such delays.
“The cost of construction materials can be one factor, there can be other factors too. If we solve the cost of construction materials but others are not addressed, it won’t happen either. We have to look at it as a whole,” he said.
Earlier, Muhammad Sanusi was reported to have requested the Federal Government to expedite the approval for additional costs to upgrade and build the LRA. The request came about following an increase in costs faced by contractors due to the rising price of building materials.
