KUCHING, Jan 8: Sabah activists are calling on the Federal government to set aside special annual allocations of RM20 million each for the Gawai Dayak and Kaamatan Festival celebrations in Sarawak and Sabah.
Gindol Initiative for Civil Society Borneo chairman Kanul Gindol and Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BopiMaFo) president Daniel John Jambun said this should be done in addition to the recognisation of the two Dayak hereditary festivals as public holidays nationwide.
“The Federal government has been sidelining the important celebration of the largest community in Borneo, so the time has come to redeem itself by providing an annual allocation of at least RM20 million for each festival to the Sabah and Sarawak State governments so that these celebrations are bigger, grander, more lively and modern,” they said.
They added that the allocations could also better accommodate the addition of visitors, events and tourists in the Borneo States, taking into account that Kaamatan and Gawai Dayak are usually celebrated throughout May and June respectively every year.
“We both think this is one of the times and opportunities for the Federal government under Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, which is dominated by Malayan leaders, to redeem itself.
“With this we fully support the calls of the two Sarawak Dayak NGO leaders,” said Gindol and Jambun in a joint statement today.
In recent days, it was discovered that Gawai Dayak public holiday on June 1 was not included by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in the 2021 and 2022 academic calendars.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth chief Datuk Snowdan Lawan, on Jan 6, voiced out that the repeated omission was unprofessional, if not intentional.
Yesterday (Jan 7), Dayak Think-Thank Association Sarawak (DTTAS) founder Wellie Henry Majang and Dayak National Congress (DNC) president Paul Raja called for the Kaamatan Festival and Gawai Dayak to be declared public holidays to enhance awareness of the existence of indigenous people in Sarawak and Sabah. — DayakDaily
