Bengoh settlement scheme suits current trend: Part One

MORE often than not, we choose to stay at the place of our birth but not infrequently, we move to settle elsewhere – sometimes in the same area, sometimes in a far-off part of the world.

Home may be ever-changing. What feels right at one time may not at another. At some point, if people are lucky, they will remain where they were born for the rest of their lives.

However, some people may never find a place they can call a permanent home. While moving from one home to another is quite common, some do it out of their own will, others may be forced to vacate to make way to development.

If lucky, they will be resettled to a new area that offers opportunities to adapt to a modern lifestyle.

And one such area is the Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS) set up for villagers affected by the Bengoh Dam-Reservoir Project which began in early 2008. The objective is to secure sufficient water supply for Kuching city and its surrounding areas.

The project has been undertaken at a time when there is a real risk that present water resources are unable to meet the demands of a growing population, the tourism industry as well as economic and agricultural development.

The 63.2m high structure is the second Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) dam in Malaysia after the Kinta dam near Ipoh, Perak.

The BRS is a modern resettlement area that provides new homes for some 204 families from Kampung Taba Sait, Kampung Pain Bojong, Kampung Semban Teleg and Kampung Rejoi in upper Penrissen.

Moving to a new home in a new place for most of the people from the four kampungs is a huge relief to the hardships they had gone through before the move.

The old villages are accessible only on foot. When they villagers moved out, everything – from refrigerators, fuel to building materials and furniture – had to be carried by porters across bamboo bridges and steep slopes, not forgetting the havoc wreaked by the frequent storms and the mud.

The nearest is Kampung Taba Sait, about one hour 15 minutes walk from Kampung Bengoh, some 55km from Kuching.

Kampung Taba Sait is literally suspended above a valley on a patchwork of bamboo and stilts. Villagers live close to each other. They store rice up to five years in advance and light their kampung with a single generator.

Once the Bengoh Dam is flooded, some of the farms, hunting grounds and fresh water fishing areas at the village will be completely under water.

Farther up Kampung Taba Sait is Kampung Pain Bojong, about one hour 45 minutes walk from Bengoh. According to oral history records, the village has existed in the area as early as 1893.

Next is Kampung Semban Teleg, about four hours on foot from Bengoh. Of the four villages, this one is situated on the highest ground and the most difficult to reach. Yet, it is well-established.

Although the village and the surrounding native lands are well above the proposed catchment, the residents have also been asked to move out.

Kampung Semban Teleg is home to a small number of elderly women known for the brass rings – rasung and ruyang – they wear around their arms and knees.

The rings are believed to have been obtained from foreign traders 100 years ago and the wearers back then were considered to be ‘somebody.’

Kampung Rejoi is the farthest. To get there, one has to cross several bridges, impeccably constructed from bamboo and wires, and strung over upper Sarawak River. The journey usually takes about four and a half hours.

Spread over a flat land, well-tended gardens run the perimetres of many of the homes in Kampung Rejoi, some built with timber and some with concrete. Some homes have tiled bathrooms, spacious kitchens and well-maintained social areas.

It is believed the villagers from Kampungs Rejoi and Semban Teleg are descendants from a people called the Biemban or people of Emban, named after the Emban River. Their early leaders and warriors were legendary in defending their settlements.

Sarawak Gazette articles, published from 1885 to 1887, described the Semban folks as living in an area that would, in later years, be known as Semban Native Customary Rights Land. Kampung Rejoi is situated on this land.

Rice, fish, chicken, wildlife (especially wild boars) and fruits are the staple of all the kampungs in the area.

Most of the villagers depend on cash crops like pepper, rubber and cocoa for a living and everything they produce is carried to the market on foot.

Many of them also work and live in town or outside Kuching or Sarawak, and may come back only once in a while, normally during Gawai or Christmas.

Household necessities they buy – from canned food, furniture and generators to fuel – are also carried by porters across bamboo bridges and over narrow steep slopes and mud – or on rafts.

But things have changed for better. Gone are the days when the villagers had to go through all these hassles. Now, they can drive straight to their doorsteps with whatever they have bought – building materials, furniture, TV sets and the like.

The BRS is probably the best resettlement scheme in Sarawak so far. It has been modified to suit the current trend and probably also correct past mistakes.

The issues of human rights, human dignity and risks of exposure too have been looked into in greater depth.

Situated along Sungai Raden (a tributary to Sungai Semadang or Sarawak Kiri River), the BRS is specifically designed with consultation and agreement of the villagers.

BRS task force committee chairman Itodio Peu Rayu said the settlers were undergoing a new life and experience at the BRS.

“The residents are now more inclined towards a modern lifestyle. Padi planting practices may be a thing of the past by 2015.

“This is because we are planning to open up our agricultural lots for commercial farming which can bring better income,” he said.

He added that education would be the main focus from now.

“We have no choice but to equip our children with higher education or life skills.”

The four villages have a total population of about 1,600 people.

The BRS is about 5km from Kampung Semadang and about 42km from Kuching.

The place covers about 1,000 acres – 300 acres for residential area comprising 204 houses, one Anglican Church, one SIB chapel and four community halls (one hall each for every village) and 700 acres of land for agriculture.

The project was fully completed in December last year.

Each family has been built a detached concrete house (on stilts) on 25 points or quarter acre of land. Each unit has three bedrooms, a kitchen and two washrooms.

The families may wall up the ground floor of their house. Some have already done so and some are still doing theirs.

Apart from that, the residential area is also provided with standard amenities such as treated water and 24-hour electricity.

The beauty of the BRS is that the four villages have maintained their original identity in terms of their name.

The BRS will help bridge the digital divide and improve the living standards of the affected villagers.