THE "MOTHER OF ALL PROBLEMS" IN THE STATE

Illegals issue never sidelined, says Musa

THE State and Federal governments have never underestimated the magnitude of the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who is also Sabah Umno Liaison Chief, said Umno was equally concerned with the issue, described as the "mother of all problems" in the State.

Umno, like all Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties in Sabah, never considered this problem lightly and was determined as ever to weed it out, he said.

It was unfair to depict the Government as being ignorant towards the issue, he said, pointing out it has spent millions to send foreigners caught without proper documentation in the State back to their lands of origin every year.

"In 2006, we deported 17,083 illegal immigrants back to their countries, 18,707 (2007), 19,151 (2008), 15,263 (2009) and over 8,000 up to July this year.

"(So) I urge friends in (component parties) in the BN to make responsible statements so as not to picture as though Umno does not care about the matter.

"We, as the main government, is not the Umno government but the BN government," said Musa.

In the meeting, he said, it was agreed by all those present, including either presidents, deputy or vice presidents of various BN component parties, that the weeding out of illegal immigrants in Sabah has never been sidelined.

"We have always worked hard to deport illegal immigrants and that stand has never changed that is the reason for the on-going Ops Sepadu (integrated operations)," said Musa, who is also the State Security Committee Chairman.

While their Indonesian counterparts have been accommodating towards the deportation process, he said, the Philippine government, on the other hand, has not been so helpful.

The absence of a Philippine embassy or consulate here makes the process of issuing travel documents to paperless Filipinos to return home slow, Musa said.

"I keep telling the (Philippine) Ambassador, please process the documents as fast as they can so they can take the illegals home but it is still slow.

"So I asked our Ministry of Foreign Affairs since the time of Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to Datuk Seri Rais Yatim and now Datuk Anifah Aman to pursue the matter with their Philippine counterpart.

This is what we have been doing and it is not fair if people say we are not doing anything.

"But it is not that easy we can't just put them into a boat and ship them home without agreement (from the respective governments)," he said, adding there are presently 3,023 Filipino detainees in detention centres Statewide, 700 Indonesians and 19 of other nationalities.

Among those present at the post-State Cabinet meeting were Deputy Chief Ministers Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Datuk Peter Pang and the other State Cabinet Ministers.

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SABAH HAS FOUR TEMPORARY DETENTION CENTERS (TDC) WITH THE CAPACITY TO HOLD 40,000 DETAINEES AT ANY ONE TIME

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Naked man who entered woman’s house arrested

Police here arrested a foreign youth who entered a woman’s house naked early Tuesday morning.

“The victim awoke from her sleep and was surprised to see the naked suspect who tried to strangle and threatened her with a knife,”

The victim struggled to escape but was punched by the suspect.

“The victim bit the suspect’s arm and he ran away from the house naked.

“During the incident only the victim and her niece were in the house,”

District police chief Deputy Superintendent Zahari Mohamed

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Businessman loses RM350,000 to burglars

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Cabinet approves 'guarded community' guidelines proposal

The Cabinet has approved a proposal to streamline guidelines for gated communities and guarded neighbourhoods which have been mushrooming lately,

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung