KOTA KINABALU Jan 2, 2012: The chairman of Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (PEKIDA) Sabah, Datu Mohd Akjan Datu Ali Muhammad, said that the association is standing firm with its objection to the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the illegal immigrants issue and Project IC in Sabah.
He said that the association’s stand was formed on the basis of the objections expressed by national Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders that an RCI would not solve the problems pertaining to illegal immigrants and the increase in Sabah’s population.
According to Akjan, PEKIDA is the biggest Islamic non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Malaysia and it subscribes to Allah’s orders calling on Muslims to be loyal to God, the Prophet Muhammad and to their leaders.
“Our current leader is Barisan Nasional (BN) which is why PEKIDA Sabah has taken the decision to fully support the stand of national leaders, especially Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who has repeatedly rejected the proposal for an RCI.
“PEKIDA is an Islamic NGO which is loyal to the leaders not because of politics but because it wants to keep the peace in the country,” Akjan said, adding that although he was no longer an Umno member, he is still supportive of Muslim leaders.
Akjan stressed that he does want to see the peace which Sabah has enjoyed since 1960 to be marred by people who have political interests.
He also was of the opinion that the RCI will not be able to get to the bottom of the population explosion in Sabah as babies are born everyday.
“The government is still in the process of registering people in the rural areas for their identification documents, so setting up of the RCI is not acceptable,” he said.
To those who have criticised him for making PEKIDA’s objection public, Akjan advised them to choose their words wisely before adding, “I will ask them to answer in court later.
“They cursed me, called me a traitor and not using my brains but the fact is, who are not using their brains? These so-called leaders, some who are BN leaders are the ones not using their brains.
“Top leaders in the country have said not possible and rejected the proposal but they are still forcing the government to do so. So who are the traitors? Them or me?” Akjan stressed.
He explained that PEKIDA and him personally have never objected the arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants by the enforcement and security agencies.
In fact, the security forces must be commended for their hard work in flushing out and repatriating transient migrants from Sabah, he said.
Last month, PEKIDA Sabah told the press that it was objecting to the proposal to set up the RCI on illegal immigrants in Sabah while another association, Rantau Putra, also raised the same objection and both have cited disrupting the unity as one of the reasons for their objections.
The objection sparked a furore among political parties in Sabah both from BN and the opposition as they have stressed on the importance of an RCI in Sabah.
Akjan also raised up the issue of illegal immigrants who claimed to be of Sulu descent and being held at temporary detention centres throughout the state.
He said that he had received reports of the detainees contracting skin diseases due to their long detention.
“As the Philippines government is still sorting out the identification papers of these people, PEKIDA urges the Malaysian government to ease their sufferings and just deport them without having to wait for the documentations,” he said.
Akjan added that he had officially written to the Immigration Department and Federal Special Task Force about the matter but had yet to receive any reply from them.
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan