Association urges PM to enhance Dayaks’ welfare

SIBU: The Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) has put forth three appeals to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim with the aim of improving the welfare of the Dayak community through its permanent chairman Munan Laja.
 
“The first one is regarding the teaching of the Iban language in schools. In Sarawak, we are facing a shortage of Iban language teachers, with a deficit of 2,100 for primary schools and 26 for secondary schools.
 
“Since the intake of new teachers has been frozen since 2022 and 2023, I kindly request the Ministry of Education to address this issue,” said Munan in his speech at Majlis Pra Gawai 2023, organised by SADIA at Complex Islam here last night (May 27).
 
At the event, he also proposed for a special firefighting unit to be established in every longhouse in Sarawak as a preventive measure for the frequent fire cases that happen at the longhouse.
 
“From 2015 to 2020, a total of 121 longhouses were destroyed by fire. In light of this, I want to propose to the government that it establish a special firefighting unit in every longhouse in the state. Currently, there are a total of 5,000 longhouses in Sarawak,” he said.
 
Munan stressed that the theme for the pre-Gawai event is the sustainability of the Iban community in participating in Malaysia’s development.
 
“We, the Iban people, do not wish to be left behind; we aspire to be on par with others, but it is not easy for us.
 
“The areas where we reside are underdeveloped; the lands we cultivate have no legal ownership grants; and the longhouses we live in lack basic infrastructure. In some areas, we have to climb trees or mountains just to access the internet,” he said.
 
Hence, Munan’s third appeal would be to request a special fund for Dayak entrepreneurs who possess land but require capital to further develop their lands.
 
“The Iban people possess ample land, including Native Customary Rights (NCR) land, but what we lack is capital. Therefore, on behalf of SADIA, I humbly request a special fund for Dayak entrepreneurs who possess land but require capital to develop their ventures,” he said.
 
Meanwhile, political secretary to the Prime Minister Chan Ming Kai, who was present to officiate the event, assured SADIA that he would convey their appeals to Anwar when he got back to Putrajaya.
 
Also present were Lanang Member of Parliament (MP) Alice Lau, Sibu MP Oscar Ling, Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing, and Local Government Michael Tiang Ming Tee, Temenggong Stanley Gramong Bandar, and Temenggong Datuk Vincent Lau.