NRD to lodge police report on so-called ‘citizenship drive’ in Sabah
In a statement, the NRD says all official documents issued by the department won’t be distributed to the public arbitrarily.
KOTA KINABALU: The National Registration Department (NRD) today denied it was involved in the citizenship drive in Sabah, which has gone viral on social media.
In a statement today, the department stated that photos of the application forms distributed to obtain the MyKad were not official documents used by the NRD for registration purposes.
Therefore, the department would be lodging a police report on the matter and would collaborate with other relevant agencies to carry out further investigations.
“The department urges the public not to fall for or spread fake information to avoid confusion and public disorder,” the statement said.
It stressed that the department had never appointed any agents or individuals to represent NRD on its behalf.
It also stated that all official documents issued by the department will not be distributed to the public arbitrarily.
For further information on the NRD, the public is advised to visit any NRD offices or its official website at www.jpn.gov.my or contact the department’s corporate communications unit at 03-8880 7077/7067/7069/8206 or email to [email protected].
Meanwhile, a Facebook user, under the name TJ Jamain, was left aghast after Kalabakan Warisan Youth lodged a police report against him for posting photos showing the MyKad application forms with Warisan’s logo.
Jamain, in his Facebook post, had questioned the reason behind the police report, especially since he was not the only person who shared the photos on social media.
“I don’t see how my post could be taken as slandering Warisan as I was only asking the party to clarify whether it was involved in the drive to award foreigners citizenship by giving away ICs.
“Besides, if they want to lodge a police report, why aren’t they lodging reports against these syndicates? Don’t they think these syndicates give them a bad name?”
Earlier today, Warisan secretary-general Loretto Sipin Padua Jr said the party was not involved in an apparent citizenship drive by unknown individuals using the party’s logo in Lahad Datu in Sabah’s east coast.
He said the party had not appointed agents to register individuals who wanted to apply for MyKad as it was not the party’s job to do so.
“Whether it was done intentionally to defame Warisan or committed by an unscrupulous group of con-artists is unimportant. Warisan’s stand remains that we have never been involved in such acts,” he said.
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Photos distributed over social media show six men holding the filled forms which clearly display the Warisan logo and seemingly official receipts from the NRD stating that the applications were being processed by the department’s office in Putrajaya.