‘Fat hopes’ for end to illegal immigrants issue

Neither Putrajaya nor Kota Kinabalu has enough political will, says Kit Siang.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang has predicted that the Sabah illegal immigrants issue will drag on indefinitely despite the impending release of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) report.

“It is sad but true that the end game to the 40-year Great Betrayal of Sabah is not yet in sight,” he said today in a press statement responding to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s announcement that the RCI report would be out next month and that a committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan would look into the findings and compile recommendations.

Lim said his pessimism was based on his observation of decades of foot dragging on the issue and the absence of the political will to resolve it.

He noted that in a speech yesterday Pairin said “a strong political will” was needed to act on the RCI report.

“Fat hopes indeed” was Lim’s response.

“Dare Pairin state when he expects the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah to be resolved? In 2015, 2016, 2017, before or after the 14th general election, 2018, 2019 or even 2020?

“The report of the RCI was submitted to the Federal Government on May 14, and the Cabinet decided exactly six months later, on Nov 14, to make public the report the following month.

“Can the Prime Minister explain what the Cabinet or the Federal Government did in the six months from May 14 to Nov 14 with regard to the report?”

He speculated that Pairin’s committee would take months or even years before submitting its recommendations, “which will take some more months and years before they are made public, to be followed by new combinations and permutations of the art of procrastination”.

He added: “The very fact that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government is not prepared to immediately make public the Report of the RCI when it was received on May 14, and to announce acceptance of its recommendations with the formation of an implementation committee, is the most potent proof that the Barisan Nasional, whether at the Federal or Sabah state level, continues to be afflicted by a total absence of political will to resolve the long-standing issue.”