Brian (seated left), Lembat (standing fourth right) and members of the newly formed club.
SIBU: A group of longhouse chiefs from Ngemah are seeking answers from the state government on their official appointment letters.
One of them, Brian Langit, said he has been the longhouse chief for his longhouse since 2002 and has not received his appointment letter until today.
He said that longhouse chiefs without appointment letters were not paid monthly allowances and their longhouses were not given funds by the state government.
“Most of us have to fork out our own money to cover expenses when we have official matters involving our longhouse residents at government offices.
“Some longhouses set up their own fund to cater for this purpose,” he said in a statement yesterday. Brian, who is also Kanowit District Council ex-councillor, said it may not be a big issue for longhouse chiefs with stable income to use their own pocket money to support such expenses.
“But for those without income, how are they going to cope?” he asked.
His counterpart Dullah Unja said their longhouse residents would face problems when the signature or official stamp of their longhouse chief is required in official forms.
“Sometimes we cannot do anything because our service is not recognised by the government,” he said.
Tuai Rumah Lembat Atau suggested that the state government relax the terms for appointment of longhouse chiefs or ‘ketua kaum’. He believes that there are still many longhouse chiefs who have not received their appointment letters from the government.
“It is because we are selected by our longhouse residents to be their chief.
“We are also working tirelessly to look after our longhouse residents just like our counterparts who receive monthly allowances from the government,” he said.
For this reason, Brian, Dullah and Lembat said they have formed ‘Kelab Tuai Rumah Dipilih Rakyat Ngemah’ to gather all longhouse chiefs in Ngemah who have not received their appointment letters.
They explained that the club where Lembat is selected as chairman, Brian as secretary and Dullah as treasurer will be their platform to voice out their needs to the relevant authorities.
The club will hold a meeting on July 25 to discuss on their plan to meet Kanowit district officer, Sibu Resident, elected representatives and the ministry involved in appointment of longhouse chiefs or ‘ketua kaum’. The meeting is expected to be attended by about 30 longhouse chiefs who have not received their appointment letters.