By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 4: Political scientist Prof Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan has urged Dayak leaders and organisations to prioritise long-term solutions to prevent fires in longhouses.
He said when a longhouse catches fire, casualties are typically low, but survivors lose all their possessions, leaving them with little more than the clothes on their backs.
“In urban settings, properties such as terrace houses and single-family homes are typically insured, allowing owners to recover financially after a fire.
“However, longhouse residents often find themselves impoverished and having to start all over again in building their lives after the fire.
“Then, local representatives may visit to offer aid and take photographs with victims, and later post them in newspapers and other social media,” he said in a statement today.
Following this, Dr Jayum emphasised the need for authorities, especially those representing the Dayaks, to come up with a comprehensive approach to address this ongoing issue, as repeated fires continue to leave residents homeless and reliant on insufficient support from local representatives and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“The Dayaks have several non-governmental agencies that can be mobilised for the purpose, such as the Dayak Cultural Foundation (DCF), Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Tun Jugah Foundation, Sarakup Indu Dayak Sarawak (SIDS), Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU), Sarawak Dayak Graduate Association (SDGA), and many more.
“The time has come for them to show their worth and usefulness to their society. These social and non-governmental agencies need to humble themselves, sit down together and use their heads to seek resolutions that can help resolve this long-standing issue, longhouse fire.
“If the resolution involves sanctions, then the community leaders need to be involved to justify their monthly allowances as Temenggong, Pemanca, and Penghulu,” he stressed.
He also called for Dayak politicians and representatives to re-assess their priorities, considering that their constituencies comprise many longhouses that share the same fire hazard issue.
“There is a need to set their own backyard in order before they should worry about how they want to be involved in managing bigger issues like green energy, carbon footprints, and climate change.
“The international community do not vote for them, and neither put them in their respective seats of power in the State. The residents in longhouses all over Sarawak do.
“The measure of the effectiveness of Dayak politicians should be based on how well they discharge their duties to ensure that their people are taken care of in various aspects, including especially safe living in longhouses,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
