KOTA KINABALU, Jan 18 — The Sabah government takes a serious view of indigenous people living in rural areas who are yet to be made citizens.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said there was a need to reconsider the implementation of the indigenous laws and the structure of the native court, including full use of the native law institution. 

He said the government would also consider, after engaging with stakeholders, on the necessity to change the use of the word “native” with “indigenous” to comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

“Whenever we decide to do something, there will be people who will be for it, and there will also be those who will be against such a change,” he said at The Legal Year Sabah and Sarawak Gala Dinner, here, tonight.

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Also present were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong, Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Attorney General Tommy Thomas.

Mohd Shafie said the Sabah government appreciated the mobile court programme, which to date had disposed of not less than 80,000 cases of ‘document-less’ children and the problem occurred in all ethnic groups.

“Just as there are thousands of ethnic Kadazan, Dusun, Murut and Rungus people, or for that matter, the Lundayeh people living in Long Pasia, there are also a good number of children in the east coast, whose parents had failed to register them at birth.

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“This has to be addressed to avoid unnecessary complications when they enrol for further education,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63), Mohd Shafie said there was a lot to be done to ensure that “what is due to Sabah, is given back”.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, we had met late last year to discuss Sabah and Sarawak’s rights.

“Some of what we deserve to get have been honoured, but we need a sound platform to argue our case in totality,” said Mohd Shafie.

He said there was already some representation by the legal fraternity of Sabah on the MA63 Committee established by the federal government. — Bernama