Wong (fourth left) and the committee inviting Junz (fifth left) to the Gaya Street Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival today (Sept 15).
KOTA KINABALU: The issuance of Sabah Temporary Pass (STP) will prevent the falsification of documents and enable the monitoring of foreign immigrants, said Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Junz Wong.
Junz said the aim of the STP was to replace the three different documentations issued to immigrants.
“Apart from preventing falsification of documents, the STP will enable the State Government to collect information and monitor the movement of foreign nationals,” he said.
The Tanjung Aru assemblyman said the different documentations issued to immigrants had made it hard for enforcement agencies to monitor their movement.
“The STP to be issued from June 1 next year will standardize the documentation given to foreign nationals in Sabah in order to better regulate them,” he continued.
Junz, who is also Parti Warisan Sabah vice president, added that the STP was one of the solutions towards addressing the shortage of labour in the State, as the pass holders would be allowed to work in construction, factories and plantation sectors, as well as enabled the government to monitor them.
He said employers who wanted to hire foreign nationals with STP must also apply for the latter’s work permit.
Junz said this during a courtesy call by The United Sabah Chinese Communities Association of Kota Kinabalu (USCCAKK) committee led by Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen.
The minister has agreed to attend the Gaya Street Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival organized by the association today (Sept 15) at Lintasan Deasoka.
Meanwhile, the USCCAKK committee concurred that the State Government’s move to issue STP was on the right track towards resolving the labour shortage in the manufacturing, plantation, construction and other sectors. The committee said many businesses had to resort to employing illegal immigrants due to the insufficient labour force and as a result were fined by the Immigration Department or prosecuted in court. They said the issuance of STP would help address labour shortage and prevent businesses from violating the Immigration Act.
On the Lantern Festival, USCCAKK president Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen urged Kota Kinabalu folks to join the celebration at Lintasan Deasoka today (Sept 15).
Susan said the public would be entertained with a series of programmes from 5 pm onwards, including dragon and lion dances, high pole lion dance, appearance by the God of Fortune, Iron Man, Spider Man and other cartoon characters who would interact with the audience.
There will also be dancing and singing performances, opening ceremony and the highlight of the event, the lantern parade competition which will be participated by more than 1,000 primary, secondary, Chinese independent school students and members from USCCAKK and Chinese associations.