GIVE THEM BIRTH CERTS IF M’SIANS

THE RELEVANT authorities and their officers tasked with issuing late registration birth certificates must carry out their duties with full responsibility, said United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

Government officers have to work according to the rules, he said when asked to comment on the statement by deputy Home minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop that 40,000 people in Sabah face documentation issues because they do not have birth certificate.

Responding to a question as to how well the ministry can identify who are bona fide Malaysians as there are fears that foreigners may take advantage of the opportunity to obtain birth certificates, Dompok said, “the officers will have to be very careful that this does not happen.”

He pointed out that if the 40,000 people in Sabah the deputy minister was referring to were bona fide Malaysians, then they are entitled to any document certifying that they are citizens of this country.

“That is what we must do as a matter of duty. We must welcome registration of Malaysian citizens who have not received identification documents.

“I would like to emphasise that we are talking about bona fide Malaysians.

“I have been submitting to the government some of the problems faced by the people who have not obtained the birth certificates of the children.

“I am talking about people in mixed marriages whose children have yet to obtain their birth certificates.

“I have presented this to the government, I have spoken about it during the party’s congress and I will continue to pursue it.

“So yes, I will support all effort by the government in registering Malaysians and for them to get the necessary documents that they are entitled as Malaysians,” he said when met after officiating SK Bahang’s school hall yesterday.

To the question if he considered the number of people who do not have birth certificates as reasonable, Dompok responded that it was not up to him to say whether the figure was reasonable or not.

“It is not for me to say whether it is reasonable or not, these are factual things. If indeed there are 40,000 Malaysians who do not have documents, then let them have all the documents that they need. I have to emphasise that we are talking about Malaysian citizens,” he said.

Meanwhile, UPKO Vice President, Senator Datuk Maijol Mahap in response to the same statement said he was curious as to why there are so many unregistered children (4,000) in Semporna.

Mahap pointed out that the National Registration Department’s (NRD) mobile service has been actively going around the State including Semporna to help with the people’s documentation.

“In fact I am aware that the State NRD has been camping out in Semporna for about a month now to deal with the documentation process,” he said adding that Abu Seman’s statement, appears to imply that the NRD has never been to Semporna to help the people to register for birth certificates and other identification documents.

“I am also curious as to why there are so many people in Sabah who Abu Seman alleges do not possess any birth certificate. Why the sudden influx? Where do they come from? It would seem like the NRD mobile service has not been doing its job,” Mahap said.

He said that he concurred with Dompok’s call that government officers must do their job well and to ensure that proper screening is conducted on all applicants to ensure that they are bona fide Malaysians.

The State NRD officers must also not follow the instructions of the Home Ministry blindly as they are more knowledgeable of the prevailing situation here, he said.

Abu Seman was quoted on Friday as saying that approximately 40,000 people in Sabah, including 4,000 children in Semporna, are facing documentation issues as they do not have birth certificates and that the issues were mostly caused by late registration of birth certificates or identity cards and the fact that the national education system does not allow children without any identification document to enter schools.

Abu Seman said the late registration of birth certificates occurred due to the lack of awareness among the local residents on the importance to register the births of their children on time.

“They usually prefer to wait for the National Registration Department’s mobile unit to come to their places so that they don’t have to pay the cost of going to the nearest NRD office to register the births of their children.

“Some of them do not even have marriage certificate as they were married under customary law or were married to foreigners,” he said in a statement.

Abu Seman said the late registration of identity cards, however, was often associated with the problem to obtain confirmation from the Magistrate’s Court before applying for an identity card, to wait for the court’s decision for verification and determining the unknown status of a child.

He also attributed infrastructure and geographical factors leading to those children without any birth certificate and identity card,” he said. (theborneopost)