By :
JOSEPH BINGKASAN
KOTA
KINABALU: An opposition MP has accused the federal government of applying a
different set of procedures when dealing with Sabah-born Malaysians and
foreign-borns registering for birth certificates in the state.
Sepanggar
MP, Eric Majimbun said the procedures adopted by Kuala Lumpur marginalised and
discriminated against the people of Sabah, particularly those in the rural
areas where many children do not have birth certificates.
He
said when these applicants, with the assistance of local community leaders,
finally get their documents, the National Registration Department (NRD) will
stamp, in red ink, the words “Late Registration”.
“Late
Registration” refers to births not registered within the 14 days stipulated
under CAP 123 of the Sabah Registration of Births and Deaths Ordinance.
And
herein begins their difficulties.
When
it is time for the holders of such documents to apply for identity cards
(MyKad), they have to begin with first getting their certificates endorsed by a
First Class Magistrate.
It’s
a procedure under the Sabah Births and Deaths Ordinance Cap. 123. 1953 which
states that all “late registrants” must to go through the procedure in court
presided by at least a First Class Magistrate.
The
same court requirements do not seem to apply to foreigners.
Majimbun,
the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) deputy president, said his recent query on
the matter in parliament was not satisfactorily answered by the Home minister.
The
former chief judge of the Kota Kinabalu Native Court, who had handled many late
registration cases, disclosed to FMT here on Tuesday that the written answer
given to him was alarming and giving foreigners a `fast track’ scheme to obtain
identity cards.
‘Lopsided’
procedure
According
to the minister’s reply, the NRD adopts the position that for the children of
foreigners, the information in their parent’s passports is sufficient to
determine their status without court verification process that is applied for
children of Sabahans, Majimbun said.
The
opposition MP called the procedure “lopsided” and accused NRD of practicing
“double standard”. The procedure was made arbitrarily in order to smooth the
way for children of foreigners to easily gain citizenship.
“I
wonder how many of these late registration certificates holders are foreigners
in Sabah because only in Sabah has such (a) law that requires court endorsement
of late birth certificates,” he said.
Thousands
of others circumvent the procedure altogether by registering through the NRD in
Putrajaya, he added.
Majimbun
wants the Barisan Nasional state government to issue a directive to the department
that late registrants must go through the proper procedure in accordance to the
state law.
He
said the state government has the power to do this but has allowed the loophole
for unknown reasons.
“We
must have some identity documents to differentiate between local Sabahan
Malaysians and the so-called Malaysians in Sabah,” Majimbun added.
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