KOTA KINABALU: STAR Sabah is urging the State government to implement the high tech, high-security identity card (IC) for Sabah as it is workable to secure the State’s sovereignty and weed out fake ICs and MyKads.
STAR Sabah chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan made the proposal yesterday following the recent Federal government’s decision to issue the uniform high-security identification card for all government staff in a move to check impersonation and forging of identification documents of government employees.
“The civil servant’s high-tech ID which can be ready in 30 minutes and the recent Home Ministry’s plan to issue 2.5 million i-Kad with biometric security features for foreign workers proves that a high-tech, high security Sabah IC can be used to resolve the long-standing illegal immigrant problem in Sabah.
“The fake ICs and MyKads have even surfaced in the Peninsula with the emergence of fake Sabahans, foreigners holding fake ICs impersonating Sabahans,” he said in a statement.
With the failure of the federal government to resolve the problem, Jeffrey said, the legal and moral duty to protect and safeguard Sabah’s sovereignty and security and to safeguard the rights and interests of genuine Sabahans now rests with the Sabah government.
As such, he proposed that the State government initiate steps now to implement the high-tech, high security ID for Sabahans and another similar ID for all non-Sabahan residents in Sabah.
“From legal sources, the Sabah government has the authority to issue the Sabah IC and there are no prohibitions under the Federal Constitution.
“The Sabah IC and non-Sabahan Resident ID is the only way to ensure that the security and sovereignty of Sabah and genuine Sabahans are genuinely protected,” stressed Jeffrey.