Poor income and rising costs affect livelihood of Sungai Asap residents

AFTER a decade living in Sungai Asap resettlement area in Belaga District, many of the residents are still struggling to adapt to their environment and new way of life.

Their supposedly more modern lifestyle with higher living expenses but unbalanced income has created more stress.

“Last time we did not have to worry so much about money. We could fish in the river, hunt in the jungle, farm and sell our produce. We could walk or use a boat to travel around. But now, everything is about money,” said Marcus Kata, one of the 9,400 indigenous people who were resettled 13 years ago to make way for the construction of the Bakun hydro-electric dam.

A Kenyah, Marcus, 48, from Uma Kulit, the first village at Sungai Asap, has six children. His eldest son is working at the Murum dam project and his eldest daughter is studying in Kuala Lumpur.

He and his wife Midnah Soung, a kindergarten teacher, live in the longhouse with their four younger children who are still schooling.

“The moment you leave the house, you need transport and money. Those who can afford it can buy a motorcycle or a car. When you don’t have a car, you still need to pay to ride in one,” he said.

Marcus bought a second-hand four-wheel drive a few years back and is paying a RM500 in instalment every month.

So, other than farming his land, he transports locals and tourists to Sungai Asap, Bakun, Belaga and Bintulu.

For today’s visit by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to Sungai Asap, Marcus’ vehicle has been booked to transport a group of cultural performers from his village to Uma Beloh, a few kilometres away where Najib will meet the locals.

About 4,500 people from all 15 villages in Sungai Asap are expected to attend the function at 2pm.

According to the villagers, the majority of them cannot afford to pay for the longhouse assessment bills of about RM40 per year or water bills for the past several years.

“The government has not even paid us any compensation as promised. If we had been given the money (about RM44,000) and put it in a bank, how much interest would there be by now?” a villager said.

They complained that the supply of water was often disrupted and the drinking water tastes rather salty.

The only bill they pay on time is the electricity bill because failure to do so will result in immediate termination of service.

While they have to pay for higher living expenses, their income, on the other hand, has not improved.

Many locals continue farming at Sungai Asap but they were disappointed with their plots of land which were small and infertile.

In fact, not only the educated ones found it hard to cope; those who had lived in the city and returned to the village also had a culture shock.

“At first glance, the new longhouses seem better. Even though they are much smaller than our old ones, they are neater. But they were made of low quality wood,” said Rudy Robinson, who moved back to Sungai Asap about five years ago.

Rudy’s father was from Uma Jawit at Bakun. He was born and grew up in Kapit where his father worked.

The 34-year-old father of four studied at a Chinese primary school in Kapit and speaks good Mandarin. He met his wife, also a Kenyah from Bakun, while he was working as a salesperson in a shopping mall in Sibu.

When his wife decided to move back to the village to look after her old parents, Rudy, who had never lived in the old village other than some occasional visits, moved to the new village in Sungai Asap.

“My children can adapt well. Schooling and everything else is okay. The only thing is the high living expenses,” he said.

While living with his parents-in-law in Uma Kulit, Rudy now works as a general worker with a federal agency in Sungai Asap while his wife is a homemaker.

There is no public transport in Sungai Asap. So to move around, the people either buy cars or motorcycles, or pay other people to drive them. Car maintenance, petrol, basic commodities are all costly.

A tank of gas is about RM30 in Sungai Asap, which is about RM5 more than in other major towns.

Government-subsidised items such as cooking oil, chicken, sugar and rice are also more expensive. A bag of rice is about RM28, cooking oil is RM3.50 per kg, sugar is RM2.20.

According to a policeman from West Malaysia and working in Sungai Asap, other than the local vegetables, almost everything else is expensive. With little source of income and unable to cope with the stressful lifestyle, it is reported that some 300 Penans and Ukits who were resettled earlier have abandoned their Asap homes to move back to their original villages.

On the other hand, despite much dissatisfaction, most of the villagers are actually looking forward to a more proactive way to increase their income and upgrade their living standards by getting involved in oil palm planting and the planting of ‘gaharu’ trees.

Marcus and his brother-in-law are among those in the village who started an oil palm plantation recently.

“Many people started planting a long time ago, but we had no money to buy seeds. Now with the support of Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB), we are able to do so,” he said.

Like other villagers in Sungai Asap, Marcus hopes the government could give more assistance to the people living in remote areas of Sarawak. The assistance he wants most is ownership of his house and land.

“After so many years, we still have not received titles for our houses and land. We want the houses given to us free. According to the agreement, our houses still belong to the government. We are not allowed to renovate any part,” said Marcus.

Ironically, even before they actually own the longhouses, the shabby looking structures, made of low quality wood, are already leaking.