Sabahans can never accept Project IC – Bumburing

Sabahans can never accept Project IC – Bumburing KOTA KINABALU: The admission by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Project IC was justified, can never be accepted by Sabahans, Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing said. The Tamparuli assemblyman stressed that no country in the world had ever done anything similar to Project IC. “Mahathir said the ICs were given to the immigrants because they were loyal to Malaysia. Mahathir is all but totally wrong on this. The loyalty of the illegal immigrants is always to their country of origin. “One proof is the Tanduo intrusion. It was known that many of the intruders are in possession of Malaysian identity cards. If they are loyal to Malaysia after obtaining Malaysian citizenship why did they attack Sabah in the name of the Sultan of Sulu?” Bumburing questioned. He added that if Mahathir had used common language as a basis for giving Malaysian citizenship indiscriminately, then why not accord Malaysian citizenship to the whole 250 million Indonesians on the basis of being able to speak the Malay language? Bumburing added that if the former Prime Minister was talking about a mistake he had made, then Project IC could be labelled as being his greatest mistake. Mahathir, Bumburing opined, had, by his own political plan, permanently changed the political, economic and social watershed of Sabah. The former Prime Minister had set a reverse takeover of Sabah in motion by allowing so many foreigners to come and stay permanently in Sabah, Bumburing claimed, adding that genuine Sabahans felt miserably betrayed for so long. “Malaysia was formed based, among other things, on assurance that the sovereignty and security of Sabah is guaranteed. Mahathir might not live to see the end result of his doing but Sabahans will endure the consequence of his heartless scheme,” Bumburing lamented. Meanwhile on another matter, Bumburing expressed support for the call by Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun for the abolishment of Goods and Service Tax (GST) on domestic air travel between Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. He was of the opinion that the exemption of GST on public transportation in Malaya while imposing GST on air travel between the three domestic regions proved a total lack of consideration by the federal government on the welfare of Sabah and Sarawak. Bumburing pointed out that air travel is very essential in Sabah and Sarawak, because of the vastness of the area. “It is clear that the view of the Sabah state cabinet has not been given due consideration by the federal government. Sabahans and Sarawakians travel frequently due to many official meetings in the nation’s capital, and for medical treatment and education. “If the federal government is genuinely serious about national integration, then this is the area where some degree of financial sacrifice can be made for the sake of the country which is divided by a thousand miles by the South China Sea,” he said. On the issue of the rice subsidy system, Bumburing said he agreed with the Public Accounts Committee’s finding that the current system did not reach the target group. He claimed that the subsidized rice normally does not reach the low income consumers in Sabah but instead landed in the hands of middlemen, restaurants and retailers. “The government tried to implement the coupon system sometime ago but it did not materialise because of a problem in the ‘e-Kasih’ system in identifying the real poor. I therefore urge the government to review this approach again. “The government of Malaysia should also study how rice subsidy is done in neighbouring Indonesia as that country has successfully implemented it, benefiting millions of households in the vast archipelago,” he claimed.