Sabah activists demand answers on alleged appointment of migrant to GLC

SEVERAL native rights leaders are demanding Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor reveal the outcome of the probe he announced in 2022 over the alleged appointment of a migrant as a director of state-owned Sawit Kinabalu.

Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation president Daniel John Jambun, Gindol Initiative for Civil Society of Borneo representative Kanul Gindol, and Andrew Ambrose of Defenders of Ancestral Lands of Sabah have called on the chief minister to explain the appointment of Peer Mohamad Kadir to the company.

The nationality of Peer, who is the Sabah MIC chief, had been questioned as he was believed to be one of the witnesses in the royal commission of inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah in 2013.

He allegedly received his Malaysian identity card six years after arriving in Sabah from India in 1984. Peer was born in Chennai, India. His identity came under scrutiny in early 2022.

Jambun said, “Hajiji had promised in 2022 to look into this matter but purposely forgot about it, hoping the people would forget.” Peer’s name remains listed as a director of the company to this day.

Ambrose demanded that the state government be transparent about its findings and make them public.

“He (Peer) should explain how he got his MyKad. Regardless of his political status, the principles of accountability and transparency must be maintained.

“The public has the right to know the truth, and this transparency will help restore public faith in the citizenship and immigration process of this country,” said Ambrose, while calling for the proposed Sabah IC plan to be implemented to allow the state to control its population.

Gindol, on the other hand, said he wants to believe the leaders would not turn a blind eye to this matter.

“I don’t want to believe that both the state and federal governments are blind or paralyzed to act on Peer’s case,” he said.

Previously, Sabah Progressive Party leader Jamain Sarudin had called on the Sabah government to reveal the outcome of its supposed probe into Peer. – The Vibes, June 18, 2024