Where the claim fails, Pt 2

Despite the clamour for a royal commission to examine the situation of illegals in Sabah, the proposal could backfire and end up stifling criticism of government, without accomplishing anything.

This is especially likely if the commission does not include persons from the opposition and NGOs as well, which it should to give the inquiry an aura of neutrality and transparency.

The cushioning effect comes when the sobering realities of what can and cannot be done are fully explored and shared in a bipartisan or politically neutral working group.

Also, while those concerned are fixated on the royal commission’s investigations, the ongoing measures to solve the problem - little though they may be - may stall.

The findings and recommendations of the royal commission could be influential and lead to important decisions. Or these could lead to a dead end and be ignored by the government if political will doesn’t exist.

A case in point is the report of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police. Its report was submitted to the prime minister on April 29, 2005.

From the scant reports about implementation it seems obvious that most of the recommendations have yet to be carried out. There is fear that the report will suffer the same fate as most government reports - shelved and forgotten.

The report of the royal commission on the Lingam video clip case does not appear to have fared any better either. The government is left to deal with the aftermath, apparently uncertain what to do next. The news that the ACA has now begun to look into those involved appears to have brought the matter right back to square one.

Sabahans may not be all starry-eyed about what a royal commission can or cannot do, but would still like to see the government institute a public inquiry into this matter of great importance and controversy. What the people of Sabah want to establish is that the ‘Project IC’ did exist - if the past tense is appropriate - and that this is not just a figment of the imagination of some people.

Through an in-depth investigation we may truly come to grips with the problem. For one thing, it may unravel the phenomenal increase of Sabah’s population - as high as 300 percent over the last 30 years by some unofficial estimates.

There was a 12 percent increase from 2002-2007, from 2,730,100 to 3,063,600 people, as disclosed by the Prime Minister's Department in a written reply to Sepanggar MP Eric Majimbun in Parliament recently. I suppose we can take that as official. The royal commission should be able to link the extraordinary increase to the Project IC.

So far the government has not made any official stand on the ‘Project IC’ allegation. This raises more suspicion that there is an attempt at a cover-up. The very act of ignoring such a great weight of public opinion that seeks the truth is tantamount to a slight, an act of disrespect to the people of Sabah who have every reason to worry about the future of their state which they erroneously thought would be well defended as part of Malaysia.

If the federal government has nothing to hide, then it should be open to a public inquiry. If there have been shady deals, these were of the Mahathir era which the present administration can try to put right.

Authoritative action

Time is of the essence here. The longer the delay in getting to the truth, the more Pak Lah’s administration will be regarded as a party to the Project IC deal that has caused so much resentment in Sabah.

By exposing it and the personalities who perpetrated it we can move on. We can at least start in the knowledge that the tens of thousands of Filipinos and a great many Indonesians who have been granted a MyKad did not qualify to get them. They must be dealt with in whatever way the government considers just and proper and consistent with the security considerations of Sabah.

Unless the controversy is sorted out, the law enforcement personnel assigned to deal with the illegals have nothing authoritative to guide them and may therefore think they are justified in exercising their own discretion in dealing with people whom Sabahans look upon as foreigners and illegals.

When the DAP proposed a motion to set up the royal commission, it was shot down. This was a pity. The federal government treats it as purely a Sabah problem and not one that concerns national security and territorial integrity.

It is even more a pity that solving the problem of the illegals in Sabah is deemed a ‘favour’ that can be made to look like a windfall granted by the PM on a whirlwind visit, along with some development funds, a couple of appointments and some sundry items to keep the disgruntled in Sabah quiet for a while longer.

Well, not this time. The prime minister must do much more than chucking in some token ‘concessions’ at Sabah.

For three decades the high and mighty in KL have made our beautiful Sabah a pawn in their political game to counteract the combined political strength of the KDM and Chinese communities, even to the extent of changing the demographic landscape of Sabah.

They left the door wide open to outsiders, even to people from a neighbouring country that lays claim to our state. That is a very serious dereliction of duty, even high treason, whichever way one looks at it.

The time for reckoning is now. But first, Sabah leaders must grow up and recognise that, where the state’s territorial integrity is concerned, they must all work together even if KL has another agenda. There is no room for partisan politics in this matter, not among Sabahans.

Part 1

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STAN YEE is a retired government officer in Kota Kinabalu.