KENINGAU: The Pensiangan parliamentary liaison office donated a four wheel drive vehicle to the High Court here for use by the court staff to carry out their duties in remote villages around Pensiangan area.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and Pensiangan member of parliament, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, handed over the vehicle to the Sabah Court Director, Ismail Brahim, at the compound of Juta hotel here yesterday.
When met, Kurup told the media that the donation of the vehicle to the High Court was to make it easier for the court staff to perform their duty at remote villages in the Pensiangan area.
“On behalf of the people of Pensiangan, we wish to extend our gratitude to the court for helping to process documents such as late registration of birth certificates and identity cards to people in the remotes areas,” he said.
Kurup said, many residents of rural areas have still not registered for a birth certificate and identity card as the villages are in very remote areas which is inaccessible by normal vehicles. As the roads leading to these villages can only be negotiated using four-wheel drive vehicles, the donation of the four-wheel drive vehicle to the High Court would certainly ensure that more people, faced with the problem of getting the necessary documentations attested by the court, can be helped.
“I believe with this type of vehicle, court staff can now go to most of the remote villages to provide the necessary servie,” he said.
Kurup requested the villagers, especially community leaders, to help the court staff who come to the villages so that they can attend to those villagers who do not have documents.
At the same time, he also asked the court staff to assist to review the status of children with unknown parents that have been handed over to relatives to be looked after.
Meanwhile, Sabah Courts Director, Ismail Brahim, described the donation of the vehicle as timely and would help facilitate the court mobile program into the rural areas to attest the late registration of birth certificates.
“On behalf of the Court of Sabah, we are thankful and appreciative of the Pensiangan parliamentary liaison office, especially Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, for donating and handing over this four-wheel drive vehicle. I believe that with this vehicle, it will make it easier for the court to go to remote villages in the Pensiangan area,” he said.
Present at the handing over ceremony were Puan Sri Melinda Kurup, assistant minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Ellron Angin, Sessions Court Judge, Duncan Sikodol, Magistrate Hafizi Halim, Pensiangan parliamentary liaison office chief officer, Vincent Lee, officers and staff of the Sabah and Keningau Court, officers and staff of Pensiangan parliamentary liaison office.