KUCHING: The ignorant attitude of the older generations in Belaga has been identified as the main cause of their children and grandchildren becoming stateless people, revealed Belaga assemblyman Datuk Liwan Lagang.
He referred to the 32 persons in Belaga district who hold ‘Green’ documents (unverified status) until now due to their parents’ ignorance as they did not register their children with the National Registration Department (NRD) after the formation of Malaysia in 1963 as a case in point.
He said most of these individuals were from Long Busang, a Kenyah Badeng village, which is the furthest settlement in Belaga.
“It’s purely ignorance on the part of their parents. But then again, there were no proper facilities available in Belaga at that time and if they so desired they could go down to Kapit which was then considered too far and too costly to go.
“So for them, they thought there was no point doing it because they were living so far away from town.
“And secondly, they thought that since they had no money in the bank, why bother.
“Because of that, even though some of their children are very smart, they can’t continue their studies because they don’t have documents.
“Without the documents, their education fees will be as high as the foreigners’ and they will not enjoy the privilege of being citizens of the country.
“This is the kind of problem we need to address.
“But we are thankful that the NRD, ever since I joined the State Legislative Assembly, we had been able to help solve the problem bit by bit except for those without proper ‘status’.
“So, for this, I will try to solve the problem, because the only authority who can decide the status of these people is the Minister of Home Affairs and of course the Prime Minister. So we are trying to find ways to assist,” Liwan told The Borneo Post at his office here yesterday.
He disclosed that ever since NRD’s outreach programme was carried out in Belaga in 2007, 944 persons from Hulu Rejang constituency, consisting of Baleh, Belaga and Murum state seats, had applied for proper documentation.
“And out of that number, 655 have managed to get their documents done. For the remaining 289 people, we are not so sure of their status and NRD will screen them further,” he said, adding the community leaders would continue to assist the NRD in verifying their status.
Nonetheless, Liwan expressed optimism that 60 per cent of the 289 applicants could be issued proper documents in due time.
Liwan, who is also Assistant Minister of Water Supplies, was thankful to the NRD and its director Jazni Jubli for conducting an outreach programme in Uma Baha, Sang Anau, Long Bulan, Belaga recently to help locals get their documents. During the event, 79 individuals applied for proper documents.
Meanwhile, Liwan happy to note that some 90 per cent of Penans in Belaga District, numbering about 4,000, already have proper documents.
“We are optimistic that we can assist the remaining 10 per cent in due time with the assistance of Murum assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon,” he said.