THE unfortunate trend of fires burning down longhouses in Sarawak has left the Dayak community in a quandary. With some over 100 years old, the old wooden structures are at risk of being destroyed in a fire. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Associate Professor Dr Neilson Ilan Mersat believes the Dayak community has a difficult choic e to make. “The new ones would have cement floors and concrete walls instead of bamboo and wooden structures,” he said, adding that the longhouse community had to address the issue before it was too late. Neilson said if the Dayak community opted to retain their traditional longhouses, a strategy had to be drawn up to make fire the “number one enemy” in longhouses.

Source: New Strait Times November 07, 2019 04:12 UTC