Sarawak former deputy chief minister Dunstan Endawie Enchana died at the Saratok Hopsital early this morning after a brief illness. He was 78.

Endawie, who was deputy chief minister from 1977 to 1979, is survived by his wife and five children, four sons and a daughter.  

According to a family member, Endawie was sent to the hospital yesterday and died at 4am this morning.

The body was brought back to his house at Taman Indah, Saratok an hour later.

He will be laid to rest at the Saratok Memorial Hill, Bukit Perabun in Saratok on April 17.

The ex-president of Sarawak National Party (SNAP) was also Sarawak’s first supreme council  member (state cabinet minister), who was appointed on July 22, 1963 soon after Sarawak gained independence from the British colony on the same day.

He was appointed local government minister in the new supreme council, headed by the late Stephen Kalong Ningkan as the first chief minister of  Sarawak.

In the 1970 state election Endawie, who stood in Krian constituency under the SNAP ticket, won the seat defeating two other candidates, Meling Jan of Pesaka and Robinson Jelemin of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).

He retained the seat in the 1974 state election on SNAP’s ticket by defeating Barisan candidate Luke Tungku.

Endawie was also the first Iban to be appointed high commissioner in Australia and then New  Zealand.

Last year, in conjunction with Sarawak's 50th anniversary of independence, he was among the seven recipients conferred the Pengasas Perjuangan Kemerdekaan (PPK) award for his invaluable contribution to the state as well as involvement in Sarawak’s independence and formation of Malaysia.

- Bernama