Uggah: Longhouse chiefs are elected by their community, not appointed
KUCHING: Village chiefs especially those of the longhouses are not appointed by any authority but are elected by their own community.
This was pointed out by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas in response to allegations by Minister of Works Baru Bian that community leaders were not democratically elected but appointed based on their political affiliation.
“There are no appointed longhouse chiefs (Tuai Rumah) in this modern era - be it hereditary handed down from father to son or picked by the government. Nowadays even women can get elected as Tuai Rumah,” Uggah told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Only senior community leaders above the village level from Penghulu, Pemanca to Temenggong are appointed by the Sarawak government and they are paid salaries and given offices to carry out their duties, he pointed out.
There are no appointed longhouse chiefs (Tuai Rumah) in this modern era - be it hereditary handed down from father to son or picked by the government. Nowadays even women can get elected as Tuai Rumah. Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Deputy Chief Minister
In the Iban community the longhouse residents elect their heads through processes accepted among them. They could use the show of hands or by choose their chiefs through ballots, he added.
After the Tuai Rumah was elected the secretary of the longhouse development and security committee (JKKK) will submit their names to the District Offices for the District Officer to verify and register them to be paid allowances.
When asked if he understood what Baru meant by saying Pakatan Harapan ( PH) federal government would only pay its share of 70 percent of the full allowance to democratically elected Tuai Rumah, Uggah said he was not sure as the Sarawak government has been paying the full amount of their allowance after the PH Federal government issued a circular to terminate their appointment in May while waiting for the PH federal government to make the final decision on the allowances.
“There is already circular in May indicating that the Sarawak government would be paying Tuai Rumah their allowances.”
Uggah suggested that Baru find out from the District Offices if longhouse chiefs were appointed or elected.