Azis, who is also the Sepanggar MP, said Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) vice-president Johnny Mositun had made a sweeping statement that depicted all squatter villages in Sepanggar in a negative light.
“Does he mean that villages that have not been gazetted and bound to be restructured are all home to illegal immigrants?” he asked in a statement
He named 18 villages in the Sepanggar constituency, including Bambangan, Kiang Lama, Natai Telipok and Poring-Poring, which were predominantly Kadazandusun areas.
“Are they also illegal immigrants? If that is what he means, then there is no wonder PBS has been rejected by Sabahans. In fact, the party is almost extinct.
“I don’t reject the reality that there are illegal immigrants or people without proper documents in ungazetted villages. These settlements need to be gazetted so that restructuring can take place,” he said.
Once the process is completed, Azis said, the villagers could create committees and screen the populace, thus clearing the settlements of illegal immigrants
Mositun had claimed yesterday the Sabah government had a plan to legalise areas alleged to harbour illegal migrants as village reserves.
He said many migrants in these areas had acquired Malaysian citizenship through the back door.
He made the comment after Azis said on Tuesday that Kota Kinabalu City Hall had identified 30 squatter settlements in the state capital to be gazetted as village reserves.
Azis, who is also the Warisan Youth chief, said the issue of non-gazetted villages was not new.
He said the situation had existed since PBS was part of Barisan Nasional’s 26-year administration in the state “when offers to gazette villages came during election periods, merely as a tool to win votes”.
He claimed that villagers were told their settlements would be demolished if they did not vote for BN.
As such, he said, gazetting the villages was the Warisan-led government’s commitment to give a chance to genuine Sabahans who were previously denied their right to own land and lead a better life.
“The government is now trying to implement these promises to the people and complete the work which BN failed to do during their rule,” he said.