Rumah Dayak - once the pride of the Dayak community in the heart of Kuching city - is set to regain its glory days again.

For almost a decade, the site where it once stood - in the strategic Jalan Satok vicinity - has been a major eyesore. Since the old Rumah Dayak was demolished, the proposed new building, which was talked about but never built, has become a controversial issue.

But now, the project which comprises a 11-storey office block and seven units of four-storey shophouses, is set to take off. If all goes well, the buildings will be completed in two years.

The contractor, Canjaya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Kuching-based Crystal Realty Sdn Bhd, has resumed physical work on the site, after informing the landowner Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) of its decision last November to commence work.

SDNU president Nicholas Bawin told malaysiakini that he was informed by the company's representative Ting Bing Cheong on Nov 23 last year that work would resume.

The stoppage became such a major issue within the community that many believe it was the main reason why politician Daniel Tajem decided to step down as SDNU president last year.

Tajem, president of now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) until it was deregistered for a second and final time last year, had said he was not to be blamed for what had happened.

"The problem is that the contractor faced financial difficulties. But the long delay has not put the union leadership in a good light," a senior SDNU member said.

Original agreement

With Bawin's election (he defeated Sri Aman incumbent Jimmy Donald) as SDNU president last year and a new team, the issue has been simmering until the committee started discussions with its lawyers on what action to take to project the SDNU's interests.

Under the original agreement, SDNU gave the contractor absolute power of attorney, but the land was not charged to any financial institution. SDNU also lodged a caveat on the land.

Ting, according to Bawing, had told SDNU that he could complete the work in 24 months instead of 36 and that he would honour the commitment to deliver to the union 20 percent of the space in the high-rise block and one-and-a-half units or six levels of the shophouse block.

The ground-breaking ceremony of the project had been performed by Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu in August 1997.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.