Shafie failed to highlight illegals
Published on: Friday, February 03, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Kg Balimbang Umno branch Chief Datuk Ainal Fattah has accused Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal of failing to tighten security in the east coast during his tenure as Deputy Defence Minister.Ainal said it is public knowledge that Semporna, which is also Shafie's hometown, is a popular entry point of illegal immigrants but nothing was done by him in his ministerial capacity to address the problem."Semporna is located very near to the southern Philippines yet the representative of the peace loving people of local Bajau and Suluk in the district failed to take reasonable steps and precautions to stop the influx of Filipino illegals to Semporna," he said in a statement.
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He lamented that as a result of Shafie's failure, the district is now flooded with illegal immigrants, an alarming situation which is has caused public anxiety and prompted the government to take action to send them back home.More alarmingly, Ainal revealed that some of the illegal immigrants have managed to obtain Malaysian identity cards and now become fishermen and farmers whose trade has deprived locals of income opportunities through the same livelihood activities.He said the issue came to light when two senior National Registration Department officers in Semporna were detained on suspicion of issuing Mykads to illegal immigrants."To me, it's unfortunate that Shafie has never brought the issue of illegal immigrants in parliament so that the Federal Government can address the problem more effectively." "We can help people on humanitarian grounds but we don't give them citizenship. This conduct can lead anyone to be charged for treason," said Ainal, who is also a senior lawyer.
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Shafie is also Semporna Member of Parliament and a former Minister of Rural and Regional Development.Ainal said the history of cross border crimes and kidnappings have caused the people in the district to live in fear, citing the Tanduo intrusion in neighbouring district of Lahad Datu that led to the killing of six policemen in Kg Simunul in Semporna as one of the worst security issues they had to live with.
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He said the people have had enough of problems with security and demand for the situation to improve.But he added that the people find it hard to forget how their own representative has failed despite being given the chance by the government to hold key posts.He insisted that Shafie must first explain to voters in the district why all these issues were not addressed under his watch instead of going around the state to sell the Parti Warisan Sabah objectives.Ainal also took aim at Shafie on the political front, saying that he had failed to deliver despite holding various posts including as chairman of Commonwealth which was endorsed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.The Prime Minister also he said once appointed Shafie as Kedah Umno liaison chief five years ago but failed to meet the expectations of Kedah Umno."When he contested for party vice president post, the Prime Minister endorsed him which resulted in him winning.But again he disappointed many Malaysians for failing to deliver better service to Umno," said Ainal.He claimed Shafie's worst performance as Minister of Rural and Regional Development has now become public knowledge.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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