By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 1: The Penans residing in Long Kajang and Long Tanyit have called on the Sarawak government to assist them in relocating to new sites.
Senator Abun Sui Anyit said during his visit to the Penan longhouses in Linau on Friday (Aug 30), the residents of Long Kajang had voiced out that their longhouse is always affected by floods.
“They wish to build new homes at a new site,” he said in a statement today, adding that the approval of levelling the new site for a new 38-door longhouse is still in the hands of the Sarawak Forest Director.
He also said the residents have complained that they have not received cash aid, which was promised to be given to flood victims, even though there have been two floods in Long Kajang so far.
On the other hand, Abun Sui, who is also the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Hulu Rajang branch chief, said that the Long Tanyit residents had expressed their intention to relocate to a new site, which has been identified and levelled, but they have yet to receive any response from the Sarawak government.
“Their population is increasing with up to 70 families so far. In some cases, they are like ‘sardines’ in one bilik (house unit).
“They hope that their application can be expedited considering issues such as growing population and the current longhouse site poses a danger since it is at risk of collapsing,” he explained.
At the same time, Abun Sui said the residents of Long Abit have requested the government to provide some aid so they can complete the construction of their new homes.
“They have started the construction, but the project could not be completed because many of the residents are hardcore poor,” he said.
Additionally, Abun Sui said he would contact the Ministry of Communication to consider installing StarLink for Long Abit so that the residents would have access to Internet connectivity. — DayakDaily
