Semporna IC syndicate a tip of an iceberg?

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Jeffrey

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan suspects that the identity card (IC) syndicate uncovered with arrests three people in Tawau a few days ago is just the tip an iceberg.

The president of STAR Sabah, and member of parliament for Keningau, while lauding the good work of the police, is concerned that there might be many other such secret IC operations all over the state.

“Knowing the lucrative income fro this criminal activity with the huge market of illegal immigrants who are eager to have ICs, it’s not impossible that many groups are operating secretly in major towns and cities in Sabah,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“This assumption is valid based on the number of arrests for similar offences in the past. This is even more saddening because of the involvement of government officers working in the National Registration Department (NRD).

“The involvement of NRD personnel, directly or indirectly, raises many questions on the integrity of the department as the department was also seen to be the first department to be present at fire sites at squatters believed to be occupied by illegal immigrants around the states,” he added.

Dr. Jeffrey, who is also the assemblyman for Tambunan also feels that the police needs to be more alerts, with active underground intelligence to weed out IC-related crimes.

“The case in Tawau surfaced only because of a report by one IC-fraud victim. While the achievement of the investigation is commendable, it would be even more encouraging to hear news of arrests resulting from unending intelligence work. What is interesting is that these syndicates started their operations by offering to give documents, including birth certificates and MyKad since last year (according to the police) after the new government took over.

“The government, especially those tasked with security matters, should leave no stone unturned to fully investigate NRD personnel and the related departments to ensure that this mess is resolved once and for all. A surge in the number of births certificates and MyKads issued since last year would reveal what the real story is behind the scene in Sabah

“The locals are very concerned about this syndicate arrest in Semporna which can mean such syndicate also exist throughout the State. As a citizen and the people’s representative, I would like to know if, following the Tawau arrests, there is a decision to make an intense and drastic change in the modus operandi in rooting out this crime,” Dr Jeffrey said.