KUCHING: All Dayak longhouses should be arranged in blocks of not more than 10 houses with a firebreak in between each block.
This should reduce fire hazards or damage if a fire does break out, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
Masing said this when commenting on a fire at Rumah Lepang Sayat Engkilili in Lubok Antu yesterday.
There are also calls for the Dayaks to stop building and living in longhouses as the whole community could incur total financial disaster in case of a fire.
However, Masing said that it was not advisable for the moment to stop Dayaks from living in longhouses, adding that only time and economic realities could change their way of life.
“And the change could take more than one generation,” he said.
“However, in the meantime we can redesign the longhouses to minimise fire hazards which can destroy the whole longhouse,” he told the New Sarawak Tribune.
He said a good model is Sungai Asap resettlement village which was built according to governmental instructions including making sure that each block does not have more than 15 houses. This had prevented fire from destroying the whole longhouse over the years.
“In the old days the Orang Ulu used to have longhouses that comprised no fewer than 100 housing units. Just imagine what damage a fire would do to these houses,” he said.
Yet it has also been said that some Dayaks would reject living in separate or stand-alone houses saying that it is their culture and tradition to live in longhouses.
