Digital registration of migrants in Sabah expanded to plantation sector

THE digital registration of migrants in Sabah has been expanded to all plantation sectors following the success of its pilot programme last year, said Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan today.

Jeffrey, who is Sabah Special Cabinet Committee on Proposed Foreign Worker and Foreign Resident Cards chairman, said the registration will move into industries next, which he hopes can be completed this year.

“The pilot project has been completed and the present approach actually works. We have settled all the challenges and the digitalisation will be expanded. The only problem we face now is the lack of manpower to carry out the job. We need more teams (to do the registration). If we don’t have that, then it will be slow.

“We had a meeting recently to look at the reports. They are now moving into the plantation sector. Once this is completed, they will move into the industries. They will provide the progress reports to the cabinet and so far the registration is doing well,” said Jeffrey when met after launching the Forest Management Certification for Rubber Tappers at Wisma Pertanian in Kota Kinabalu.

Jeffrey said the outcome of the pilot project has been presented to the state cabinet mid-last year and the project has been given the nod to expand to all sectors.

A total of 14,855 migrants have been registered under the pilot project carried out in the state-run Sawit Kinabalu plantations last year, with half of the numbers, mostly dependents of the workers, found without valid documents.

The registration is done using biometric facial and fingerprint methods and would be done in stages, starting from the plantations, followed by industries, construction, services and subsequently the squatter settlements.

Jeffrey said only the sea gipsies or the seafaring Palauh communities will be singled out as a separate category.

The Sabah government decided to carry out the digital data registration exercise to tackle the longstanding migrant problems in the state. – The Vibes, January 22, 2023