JKM to assist family of late food deliveryman get citizenship
KUCHING: The Sarawak Social Welfare Department (JKM) will assist the family of the late Yuhanis Abdullah in obtaining a citizenship status to enable them to receive the necessary assistance, said Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
She said the department would be helping Yuhanis’ mother Nurjanah Abdullah and sister Siti Mariam Abdullah to apply for citizenship.
According to her, Siti, 17, does not possess any documents that would enable her to claim for a Malaysian citizenship status under Section 2, Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
“We will help the family of the late Yuhanis to obtain citizenship status first so that we can provide welfare assistance to them.
“For a start, custody is through a court order to enable the stepfather, who is a Malaysian, to get custody of Siti to enable him to submit an application for citizenship status. This is because Siti’s biological father has passed away,” she told reporters after visiting Yuhanis’ family at Semariang Pinggir near here yesterday.
Fatimah said the application for citizenship status for Siti would be done under Section 15A of the Constitution as she was still under 21 years old while Nurjanah’s would be under Section 15(1) of the Federal Constitution, which is an application for a wife to a citizen.
“We view the citizenship status for Siti to be very important because she intends to further her education. Without a valid identification document, she cannot continue her education and if she works, her opportunities are limited.
“Without citizenship status, this family cannot receive welfare assistance like other citizens,” she said.
In this regard, she hoped that the application process for both Siti and her mother could be expedited.
“The process of obtaining custody from the court is not long. The one that would take a longer process is obtaining citizenship status because it has to go through the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN).
“Therefore, we hope that their citizenship status applications can be approved soonest,” she added.
Yuhanis, 20, who worked as a food deliveryman, died in an accident at Jalan Sultan Tengah towards the Semariang roundabout on March 29.
He had been working as a food delivery rider since August last year to support his family in addition to covering the medical expenses of his ailing mother as well as taking care of Siti who had just finished sitting for the SPM examination.