SIBU: The suggestion by Sarawak 1Malaysia Advisory Council chairman Datuk Joseph Salang to raise the loan for building longhouses has the support of Iban councillors of Sibu Rural District Council and Kanowit District Council.
Salang was speaking at a housewarming ceremony for Rumah Seli Nyambong in Nanga Lioh in Julau on January 25 when he suggested that the loan amount be raised.
Salang, who is Julau MP, said the prices of construction materials like wood and cement have increased.
Salang also lamented the difficulty in getting such loans approved.
“It is always a very expensive and time consuming affair for the rural Dayak community to build their new longhouse.
“They certainly need all the assistance to make it a speedy process,” he noted.
Dr Ali Puji for one said the loan should be raised to RM20,000 per door from the present RM10,000.
“If it is to current be increased, the terms and conditions should also be loosened so that the longhouse folk will not face many red tapes when applying for the loan,” he said.
Dr Ali, nevertheless, advised that the suggestion be studied from all aspects, including the ability of the borrowers to make repayments.
He believed that repayment would not be a problem to longhouse folks. “Because all this while, longhouse residents would do all they can to complete their own ‘bilik’ (door unit in a longhouse) when agreeing to build a new longhouse,” he said.
Pasang Ngalambai, on the other hand, opined that RM10,000 per family was insufficient to build a proper and comfortable ‘bilik’ especially with the rise in prices of construction materials,
He said giving RM10,000 to longhouse folk to build a house now was just like doing something half-heartedly.
“Their house will not be completed properly.
“A brick now costs 35 sen and a bag of cement is RM17. With that price, I do not think RM10,000 is enough to repair a house what more to build a new longhouse,” he argued.
He said it was timely for the loan amount to be raised because even houses built under Hardcore Poor Housing Project (PPRT) was costing RM50,000 each.
For Stephen Chendang, getting a bigger loan might add burden to the borrower when it came to repayment.
He suggested that the burden of bigger repayment be offset by government subsidy.
The guest-of-honour at the housewarming was Land Development Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing.