KUCHING: The Home Ministry has set up a special task force to speed up citizenship applications throughout the country, including those from Sarawak.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the task force was headed by the ministry’s director-general and deputy secretary-general at the federal level, and was assisted by the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya.
“We have received 27,000 applications for the first batch and are set to resolve them within this year, using the new standard operating procedures (SOP),” he told reporters at the Sarawak police headquarters here today.
The new SOP, he said, would have clearer guidelines on handling and considerations for citizenship applications, particularly under Article 15A, on citizenship by registration (wives and children of citizens).
Each application will be vetted in detail, fairly and speedily, he added.
“I appreciate and thank the efforts of Sarawak Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah for assisting us over the past few months.
“But, citizenship application is a federal matter, hence, it is only proper for the federal ministry and agencies to manage it,” he said, adding that the state-level special committee on citizenship chaired by Fatimah had been discontinued.
“It’s not that we look down on the Sarawak (government).
“We have informed the state government that we don’t want to burden them with the duties and responsibilities of the Federal Government.
“Hence, we will be handling all the applications,” he said.
The state-level special committee was set up in 2016 under the previous Barisan Nasional government to facilitate and expedite citizenship applications from the state.
Any state assemblymen and member of parliament, regardless of political party, Muhyiddin said, were welcome to raise longstanding and unresolved citizenship issues with his ministry.
He said the Federal Government had allocated RM3.6 million for the ongoing renovation of the police quarters at the Sarawak Police Contingent Headquarters Complex in Jalan Badruddin here.
He said the quarters, built in 1968, were in a dilapidated condition and had to be renovated immediately.
“It is learnt that the total cost of the renovation will be RM7 million, but we can only approve a part of the cost due to financial constraints.
“The remainder will be worked out by next year, at the latest.
“We sympathise with the 800 residents over the situation where many of the lifts are out of order and there are other problems,” he told reporters after a visit to the complex.