SubscribeWritten by Dr. John Brian Anthony
Many Dayakbaru members mentioned about the SDNU handling of Rumah Dayak in Satok, and the failure for the building to be completed till today. Many has even “associate” the failure to complete the building with Dayak inability to do anything well. That is the mentality and level of thinking we have to deal with today.
I must say, all are said for good purpose and intention to improve ourselves. But some say it in the spirit that Dayak are not capable of moving forward.So Dayak better surrender their future and live in the hand of other races in Sarawak. To some of us, Dayak are hopeless people. Is it so?
To help better understand the issue Dayakbaru would benefit from the following update.
A bit of History
An agreement was signed by SDNU and the property developer in 1997 (Crystal Realty) giving the developer 80% of the property and SDNU received 20% upon completion. The President then was Dato Seri Daniel Tajem and the Secretary General is Sidi Munan.
Later in the same year, the contract was reassigned to Canjaya. How did this happen is a matter that it is better for us to leave it to the court to find out and decide.
The agreement stated that the Property Developer will finance and build the whole building at their own cost. SDNU will receive 20% of the completed property in consideration for their part in providing the land .
What slow down the work?
Canjaya do not have the money to complete the work. The building plan was only approved in 2004. Why is this long “gap” in the process – NO ANSWER has been found yet and probably the court will need to find it out on Dayak behalf.
Caveat
For fear of losing the 20% share of property, SDNU caveat 20% of the Rumah Dayak Project. The developer said this has hamper his effort to sell the property. This caveat is now withdrawn and still there is not much improvement in the completion of the building.
Meeting with Property Developer- Canjaya
there has been THREE meetings in which I was directly involved – the output are
- to get the Developer’s recovery plan to complete the project by July 2008.
- to write a letter to the developer to assure potential buyer that the caveat only covers the 20% SDNU share of the property.
- to confirm with the developer that the new extended date to complete the Rumah Dayak would be 29th January 2009.
The 29th January 2008 dateline look like it is going to be passed without much progress on the building. SDNU has written 2 letters to the developer and a third and last letter would be issued this month, December 2008 to informed the developer that this is the final extension of the completion date.
Where do we go from the 29th January 2009?
SDNU has little option but intend to bring the matter to court. SDNU is prepared to take over the construction of the building from the developer.
The Current SDNU Committee 2006-2009 Rumah Dayak Plan
The completion of this Rumah Dayak is one of the highest priority for the current committee. To ensure that this building is completed on time SDNU appointed Dr. John Brian Anthony as the responsible person to oversee this building completion.
A plan was therefore put in place with the following action approach
- to give every support to the developer that would enable the building to be completed
- to remain firm with the developer on all time line agreed upon for the completion of the building
- to take remedial steps not limited to putting pressure upon the developer to complete the project but to terminate the agreement with the developer ( Canjaya) and appoint a new contractor / developer as the case may be.
Conclusion
The Rumah Dayak at Satok Road sit on a prime land. SDNU current committee is committed to deliver this building even if it means buying out the project from the developer and will not hesitate the take the developer to court.
Many things that has not been done properly before need correction. It needed immediate correction but still allowing for a reasonable process to take place to ensure that our future action may be substantiated well.
The non-completion of Rumah Dayak is an eye sore. A sense of lost of direction but not powerless for those who want to see the building completed. To put back Dayak pride and dignity and self respect and let us not associate our future with such bad example. We must learn from it but insisting on better management of our business and objectives.
obama
/ January 14, 2009Am glad that Dr took a keen interest to see that the project will be completed ASAP.
While very keen to see that it is completed fast it appears that our hands are tight. The project was assigned to the developer under absolute assignment and legal action may be tough going but pray it can succeed. Hope to see RUMAH DAYAK soon.
Good luck.
lintong
/ March 6, 2009It is interesting to note that many Dayaks are very concerned about the state of our very symbol i.e the Rumah Dayak.It is difficult rather not to talk or think about it. I am confident that our SDNU will come out with good favourable solution so solve that.
While going through all the problems faced by the Dayaks, I cannot forget about another issue i.e. our NCR/NCL.I believe that SDNU could make a protest against YB Nyallau anak Badak who believes that our NCL lands should be protected by the government and should not be delineated, surveyed and issued with titles.
SDNU being a Dayak NGO, should send him an official memorandum to protest against what he had said ( Borneo Post 4 March 2009 ).Should that be a true reflection and the general thinking of other Dayak YBs, then we are finished. What other economic assets do we Dayaks have anyway.???
Ir. Engkuli
/ March 18, 2009‘The building plan was only approved in 2004. Why is this long “gap” in the process – NO ANSWER has been found yet and probably the court will need to find it out on Dayak behalf.’
Based on normal practising, the construction work should begin AFTER the approval of development plan. But, how this thing can happen?
john brian anthony
/ May 14, 2009SDNU checked with the relevant government bodies confirmed that the Rumah Dayak land must be surveyed first before the building plan can be approved. Here lies the gap.
Concrete step will be taken to request for the land to be surveyed and then we will take each process step one by one to ensure that all “requirement” needed by the developer will be met.
We do not anticipate complicated problem by pursuing the new course of action but we are still careful to ensure that each process step will be executed precisely as per the government authorities procedure requirement. We will not let any stone unturned to ensure that the “Rumah Dayak” is duely completed as the SDNU member wishes.
elsiy
/ October 10, 2009Dr John,
Hi, if the matter is left to the courts, the matter could be protracted. It is best to bring all parties to the negotiating table. There are various ways to go about it. Regards