KOTA KINABALU: Former Chief Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak has appealed to the Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and the National Registration Department (NRD) director-general to come to Sabah to hold "special closed-session meetings" with those having genuine citizenship problems as soon as possible in a move to solve it once and for all, thereby avoiding the issue being politicised.

He said several political parties including Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) had joined the fray in expressing their dissatisfactions over the way the NRD in Sabah handled the matter, and the prolonged debate over the issue in the media might affect the good image of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

"It seems that one by one, people are coming forward with clear-cut evidence pertaining to their citizenship problems where the status of local Sabahans are downgraded to that of permanent residents (PRs).

"This could be just a tip of the iceberg. Maybe more locals, especially those who are experiencing such problems, will do the same and this gives room to some people to take advantage of it for a political mileage. That's why we don't want this to go on," he told Bernama, here Monday.

Salleh was commenting on the lastest disclosure by SAPP deputy president and Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun who claimed that a MyKad holder from Kampung Pomotodon, Inanam, having his (Majimbun's) family name with slighly different spelling (Majimbon), turned out to be a Filipino surnamed Maguil, and the man admitted obtaining the identity document a couple of years back. (Bernama)