Call to halt late birth certs
Published on: Thursday, January 24, 2019
By: Mail Mathew
KENINGAU: A local non-governmental organisation wants the Federal Government to put on hold the late birth registration programme in Sabah, claiming it is suspicious over how tens of thousands managed to have their applications approved in 10 years.
Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) said on Wednesday that the Government should stop the programme until all village chiefs in every village have been elected.
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“I’m suspicious how such a big number of applications were approved within the period,” said its Vice President Paul Kadau (pic), adding that there is real concern over possible abuse.
He was referring to an allegation by one Jonnybone Kurum on Facebook that had gone viral that there could be a mistake in the approval process and demanded an explanation from the NRD. He also claimed that the number of late birth registrations in the State had reached a staggering 80,000, all of which had been approved.
Paul said it was unfair to always blame native parents for causing their children to be registered late. “It’s even hard to believe. Maybe some of them were at fault but the number may only be one per cent,” he said.
He suggested that every application must have complete information such as name of village of applicants so that they can be traced when the need arises.
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“Their application must also be supported with other documents like a clinic card and particulars of staff who witness the birth of a child,” he added.
Earlier, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) urged the relevant authorities to also ensure only genuine Malaysian citizens were issued the country’s identification card.
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“We (PBS) acknowledge that MyKads must be reissued to its applicants swiftly, but it must be done the right way,” said the party President Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.
Commending the National Registration Department for its quick action to replace the MyKads of fire victims of squatter settlements, he said such exercise must be carried out after thorough screening of its applicants.
“In the case of the recent Putatan fire, fire victims were reissued their identification documents within 10 days. And there have been at least eight suspicious fires at squatter settlements throughout Sabah since June 2018. NRD and relevant authorities must conduct thorough checks and investigations to ensure that only proven, genuine Malaysians are given replacement documents,” he said.
He stressed that PBS do not want unwanted foreigners to use this avenue to acquire Malaysian citizenship through ill-gotten identity cards, as well as birth certificates. The NRD, he added, must also ensure that the process of verification is transparent and can be counter checked by local community leaders.
“This is ensure those receiving documents are genuinely locals. While we commend the NRD for their efficient and prompt action, such response should not only happen when fires occured in squatter settlements, especially where there are known colonies of illegal immigrants.”
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