Jeffrey stressing a point at the meeting.
KOTA KINABALU (May 2): The pilot project to collect foreign population data has been completed and will be reported to the state Cabinet on June 14.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the pilot project was conducted with Sawit Kinabalu and found most of the foreigners are legally registered while some are working illegally in the plantations.
“After reporting to the cabinet, we will proceed with another data collection with a target, so that we can complete this at the end of the year.
“From the pilot project with Sawit Kinabalu, we have registered 14,855 foreigners.
“Our duty here is data collection, so we will need the full cooperation of the employers and the foreign population,” he said after chairing a cabinet special committee meeting on the proposal of Sabah foreign worker and foreigner cards.
Jeffrey added they also need a technical team to register and capture the data such as facial and fingerprints.
The data collection will cover the whole Sabah by dividing into region. It is expected to be completed by end of the year.
“Once we have the data, we will be able to regulate the population in our country. Our purposes are regulating and human rights,” he added.