‘IC matters will be resolved within a year’
MIRI: All cases concerning identity card ( IC) among Sarawakians will be resolved within a year.
This was assured by state Pakatan Harapan ( PH) chairman Chong Chieng Jen, who noted that many applications for identity card have been delayed for years, with some applicants now grown into adults but still without an IC.
Hence, he assured that he would work closely with the newly appointed Minister of Home Affairs Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the federal government in forming a special committee to look into the matter.
“Sarawakians can rest assured that the process of identity card applications and registrations will be expedited. Give us one month to form a special committee who will then be responsible to look into this matter and we will ensure all IC cases are resolved within a year,” he said.
Chong was speaking at a Pre- Gawai dinner hosted by the Dayak Think Tank Group ( DTTG) at a leading hotel here on Sunday.
He pointed out that the matter had been included in PH’s manifesto for the 14th general election.
Following PH’s momentous win in the recently concluded general election, he revealed that he had received endless phone calls on IC cases.
“I would just like to request for us to be patient as we are still in the process of setting up the cabinet but I can assure that we will work hard to deliver this promise,” he added.
Chong expressed his disappointment that for over 50 years under the Barisan Nasional ( BN) government, IC cases among people in the state still existed till today.
On another matter, Chong encouraged the people to change their thinking that Sarawak is a ‘ fixed deposit’ of BN, now that they are under the governance of the once opposition Pakatan Harapan.
“We created history in Malaysia ten days ago for bringing down the previous Barisan Nasional government at federal level. Congratulations also to all Sarawakians because now we can stand tall and proud to tell the world that we are no longer the ‘ fixed deposit’ of Barisan Nasional.
“Now that we had created history and we are the current government, the real work begins.”
Chong commended DTTG for staying committed to its mission and vision of being a think tank on policies concerning the interest of Dayaks.
“I believe in the past, many suggestions, recommendations and proposals from DTTG were neglected, set aside and excluded by the previous government, not only at the state but also federal level. But now, the situation has changed because we ( PH) are the federal government.
“Nevertheless, we must work doubly or triply hard to make sure we will come up with more proposals that can be implemented and formulated as government policies inclusive of all races which is transparent and fair to all Malaysian citizens,” he added.
State Parti Keadilan Rakyat ( PKR) secretary Nicholas Bawin, PKR Baram chairman Roland Engan, Miri MP Dr Michael Teo, Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon, Krian assemblyman Ali Biju and DTTG Miri chairman and organising chairperson Elias Lipi were among those attending the event.