Residents of Rumah Monica put up a banner at the entrance of their longhouse prohibiting outsiders.
SIBU: The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee’s (SDMC) directive to prohibit ‘ngabang’ this Gawai Dayak celebration is applauded by local community leaders.
Iban community leader here Temenggong Stanley Geramong said the directive was a good move to ensure Covid-19 would not spread to rural areas.
“It is better to exercise cautions because we do not know who the potential carriers of the unseen disease are.
“We must heed the advice of the government not just for our own safety but also for our families and others around us,” he said when contacted yesterday.
SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah announced the directive during a press conference in Kuching on Wednesday.
Uggah said the committee allowed Gawai Dayak to be celebrated only for a day.
He also said ‘miring’ would be allowed during the celebration but only if it adheres to the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the committee.
Tuai Rumah Ijau Ikok from Nanga Nirok in Kanowit concurred with Stanley’s statement.
“Stopping the disease from spreading is a shared responsibility of all, including longhouse residents in green zone Kanowit,” he said.
Ijau said this would be his first Gawai Dayak under Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
“I remember seeing ‘Adat Bekurung’ (curfew) leaflets being dropped from military helicopters during the communist insurgency in the 1970s.
“But then Gawai Dayak was still being celebrated merrily and without fear by the longhouse residents,” he said.
Yesterday, residents of Rumah Monica Gelima Ubong at Sungai Durin here put up a banner preventing outsiders from entering their longhouse this Gawai Dayak celebration.