Ex-Sabah CM Harris denies ‘Project IC’
http://my.news.yahoo.com/ex-sabah-cm-harris-denies-project-ic-075250300.html
By Boo Su-Lyn
KOTA KINABALU, Jan 15 — Former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri
Harris Salleh denied today the existence of “Project IC”, where citizenship was
allegedly given to immigrants for votes.
Harris, who administered Sabah from 1976 to
1985, stressed to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants
here that he had no authority to give blue identity cards to immigrants.
“As far as I know, officially or unofficially, there’s no ‘Project IC’,”
Harris told the RCI.
Asked why immigrants in Sabah seemed to be
getting citizenship faster than other people, he said: “The final authority is
not with the state government. It’s with the federal government. That question
should be posed to the federal government.”
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s longest-serving prime minister who
ruled from 1981 to 2003, has been repeatedly accused of spearheading “Project
IC”.
Harris also said that the Sabah state
government had no authority to issue permanent residency to immigrants.
“Absolutely, the authority is with the federal government. The state
government has no authority. We only assisted the individuals to fill the
forms,” said the former Berjaya Party president.
Harris noted that former Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had said
in the 1970s that Muslim refugees could stay in Malaysia,
while non-Muslims could go to Australia,
Europe or the United States.
“Among the policies adopted by the federal government was to grant
citizenships to refugees in accordance with the United Nations charter,” said
Harris.
“Based on these policies and as claimed by YAB Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad, former prime minister, it can be concluded that thousands of refugees
and Indonesians were accorded citizenships in accordance with the Malaysian
constitution,” added the sixth chief minister of Sabah.
Harris also said that the federal government had never informed his
administration of the number of immigrants in Sabah
that were given blue identity cards.
The greying former politician added that refugees were welcomed in
the 1970s to accommodate the boom in the agricultural and construction
industries in Sabah then.
“We were concerned if we don’t settle them, we can never improve Sabah...Filipinos are good construction workers,” he
said.
Sabah has 926,638 registered
voters, according to a June report in English-language daily, The Star.
The five-member panel inquiry, which is chaired by former chief
judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim
Lip Kiong, resumes tomorrow.
What a great co-incidence in Labuan where yesterday a 40 kg crocodile was caught alive by the task force as it is reported in Borneo Post 16 Jan 2013.
ReplyDeleteActually everything is set and known about Project IC since 1970s but always denied.
So Harris also from Labuan once was 'caught' lying alive in the RCIIIS Court hearing in the morning of 15th January, 2013, the second days of the historical RCI hearing the first in Sabah.
So where should we send Harris to when the crocodile is to be sent to Lok Kawi wildlife centre.
I was born in Labuan.
Harris (No Project IC) chides official
ReplyDeletePublished on: Wednesday, January 16, 2013
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=83996
Kota Kinabalu: EX-Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh denied knowledge of a scheme known as "Project IC" to issue the blue Identity Cards to illegal immigrants in Sabah.
"I have never heard about Project IC É I only heard that sometimes in statements or in blogs but I don't read them because they contain false stories," he told the inquiry.
"As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as Project IC," he said, when RCI Chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim asked for clarification.
Asked by Conducting Officer Manoj Kurup the reason immigrants seemed to be getting blue ICs in Sabah, Harris said: "My answer to that is they must be eligible because the power to issue is Kuala Lumpur."
According to him, the State Government only helped to fill up the application forms but the final authority was the Federal Government.
"The question should be posed to the Federal agencies, the National Registration Department, not me," he said.
Harris seemed annoyed when Manoj tried to refer to him the book "007 Lelaki Melayu Terakhir" by MD Mutalib, which contained allegations about his involvement in the issuance of ICs to foreigners.
"No, it is not true, I have never done anything illegal, all I do is legal ... why should I bother suing in court, he has no money to pay, it will be just wasting money and the court's time," he said. "You should ask me factual things, otherwise you are wasting the RCI's time," he told the conducting officer. When pressed if he did it, Harris replied: "No, I don't have the authority to issue Ics."
Harris who was Chief Minister of the Berjaya State Government from 1976 to 1985 said the Federal Government had never reported the number of blue ICs being issued to foreigners in Sabah to the State Government.
"Mr Chairman, the Berjaya State Government, I think (RCI panel member) Tan Sri Herman Luping can understand this, was under pressure by Umno and the Federal Government because we overthrew the Usno Government (and) they were not very happy. "To us as a State Government we accepted what is fair and just the policies of the Federal Government, that's all," he said.
[next part]
On the issue of refugees, he said when Berjaya formed the government in 1976 there was no proper record of them and that these people were living in terrible conditions such as carton boxes and exposed to rats and mosquitoes.
ReplyDelete"It was such a crisis," he said, adding that under humanitarian grounds the State Government agreed to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which provided a US$15 million grant to the State Government to help resettle the refugees and the Federal Government.
At that time, a Settlement Division was formed under the Chief Minister's Department to properly document the refugees running away from conflicts in Mindanao.
This move, he said, not only allowed Sabah to deal with its refugee problem, but to also provide human resources at a time when the construction industry in Sabah was booming.
"If we did not resettle them we could have never improved Sabah," he said, adding previously there was no agency looking into the matter until the division was set up.
He also submitted a written statement to the RCI where he said the Federal Government's policy of allegedly giving preferential treatment to Muslim refugees started during first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's tenure.
"Tunku announced that Muslims refugees can stay in Malaysia, and non-Muslims in any case preferred either to go to Australia, Europe, or the USA (for resettlement), he said.
"Based on these policies it can be concluded that thousands of the refugees and Indonesians were accorded citizenship in accordance with the Malaysian constitution," he said.
Harris said this policy continued to be in force until today.
Harris also said that the Federal Government had never informed his administration of the number of immigrants in Sabah that were given blue identity cards.