May 31, 2008 20:32 PM

Fed Devt Dept Scrapped, Cabinet Committee On Illegal Immigrants Formed – Abdullah

KOTA KINABALU, May 31 (Bernama) — The 17-year wait by state government leaders to scrap the Sabah Federal Development Department ended Saturday when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the good news.

Following the abolition with immediate effect, Sabah State Development Office would handle the Prime Minister’s special allocations and monitor implementation and progress of federal government projects.

Abdullah, who met state government leaders and senior state government officials, also announced the formation of a cabinet committee on illegal immigrants to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to discuss and solve the perennial illegal immigrants’ problem in the state.

The committee, comprising several Sabah leaders, would seek solutions to the problem, particularly foreigners holding the “IMM13” a document in lieu of passport issued by the Immigration Department to Filipino refugees which permits them to remain in Sabah, he told a media conference.

The prime minister also announced a RM1 billion allocation from the prime minister’s special allocation to be distributed according to development requirements in Sabah and the appointment of Sabah-born Professor Datuk Kamaruzaman Ampong as the new vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah would take effect on June 18. Read the rest of this entry »