TAWAU: A delay in the appointment of village chiefs from among the Bugis and Javanese communities in the state due to their not being listed as natives has received the attention of Sabah Minister of Law and Native Affairs Datuk Aidi Moktar.
Aidi said that, as of now, their appointments could only be possible once they obtained the native status from the Native Court.
He said he was looking into this problem and a solution which needed a prudent study before he could make a recommendation to the state government, including looking at the definition of a native in the Sabah interpretation ordinance.
“This study includes reviewing the letter issued in the era of the Berjaya government in 1982 that imposed a freeze on the process of granting the native certificate,” he said in a statement today.
Aidi said the freeze was still in force and it was the responsibility of the government of the day to decide whether to carry out a study or review and if there was a need for the government to make a stand pertaining to the letter as the freeze was seen as prohibiting and denying the rights of qualified Bumiputeras to apply and obtain a native certificate.
“The government can accept the Bugis and Javanese as representatives of the people and if this can be accepted by all the communities in Sabah, why do we want to dispute their being appointed as village chiefs?” he said, adding that he was of the view that the matter should be addressed by the government.
He said Subsection 2 (d) of the ordinance stated that any person, who was ordinarily resident in Sabah and was also a member of the indigenous people of the Republic of Indonesia, could be recognised as a native but only after obtaining the Native Certificate issued by the Native Court as stipulated under subsection 2 (3) of the ordinance.
Aidi gave the assurance that the proposed study was not intended to recognise the Bugis, Javanese and Banjar communities as natives as a whole.
He also refuted a recent news report that the state government would scrutinise the interpretation ordinance to recognise the Bugis and Javanese communities as natives.
He said he only wanted to bring the issue of the appointment of the Bugis and Javanese to the state government so that the appointment of the customary chiefs would give preference to the natives of Sabah and Bumiputeras. – Bernama
