KOTA KINABALU: Two critical issues need to be addressed where illegal immigrants in Sabah are concerned, says Sandakan MP Vivian Wong.
“Not only are they left out of food basket and aid programmes, but the government cannot vaccinate them when their names and data are not in the system,” she said on Monday (July 5) after visiting an illegal settlement at Kg Tanah Hitam in Libaran, which is adjacent to her constituency.
She added that her office has been collaborating with NGOs and the community to help provide food for stateless people.
“An MP’s allocation includes RM300,000 for a food basket programme, and we in Sandakan only recently got the allocation meant to help thousands of families.
“Only one and a half days after we started accepting requests for food basket assistance, my office received over 3,500 applications,” she said.
Wong said the RM300,000 allocation is meant for 3,000 food baskets worth about RM100 each but she is thinking of halving the value so that they can give away 6,000 baskets instead, doing away with certain items like chilli sauce and condensed milk.
“We are trying our best to give to those in need. Priority is given to the hardcore poor, single mothers, the disabled, and senior citizens without families to depend on.
“We will do our best to make sure the assistance reaches the target groups,” she said.
Forty food packs contributed by the Sandakan community were handed out during her visit to Kg Tanah Hitam with Pertubuhan Kebajikan Marhaen Sandakan.
