KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Cabinet must seriously consider enacting a Sabah identity card (Sabah IC) law to protect the interest of Sabahans, says backbencher Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.

       He said that such a card could be a measure to prevent foreigners who had obtained dubious citizenship from enjoying state benefits meant for the locals.

       The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president said that the 2012 Royal Commission of Inquiry on Sabah's migrant issues had clearly shown that the issuance of MyKads was compromised as numerous foreigners had obtained it through dubious means.

       "These foreigners who came to Sabah obtained MyKads by claiming to be born in Sabah and became Sabahans," he said when reading out a case from the RCI report where the foreigners themselves testified to it.

       He said he was not disputing the MyKads they obtained as they could be now considered Malaysians as it was issued by the National Registration Department.

       But these people cannot be considered as Sabahans," he said during his debate on Yang DiPertua Negeri's policy speech.

       He said through the enactment of Sabah IC, the state government could ensure only genuine Sabahans obtain the identity card for them to apply for trading licences, land applications and state benefits among others.

       "I hope the Sabah Cabinet will seriously consider it," he said, adding that he was saddened that the state assembly speaker Datuk Kadzim Yahya had rejected his special motion to discuss Sabah IC at the assembly.

       Yong, a former chief minister, spoke at length on various laws and rights of the state that allows for Sabah to issue its own identity card without overstepping federal laws on citizenship.

       Yong also called for the state government to take steps to get back Labuan, which was made a federal territory in 1984.