Development and Change in Batang Ai Sarawak: Perception of a Resettled Iban Community.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
Development and Change in Batang Ai Sarawak: Perception of a Resettled Iban Community. |
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Author :
Ahmad Mahdzan Ayob and Noran Fauziah Yaakub |
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Abstract:
The Batang Ai Resettlement Scheme in Lubok Antu District of Sarawak was established in order to resettle families affected by the construction of the hydroelectric dam across the Batang Ai at Wong Irup. This hydroelectric project, which had stirred much interest among planners and environmentalists alike, produced an artificial lake with a surface area of about 8,500 ha (roughly 33 square miles) with a water level of more than 60 metres above the original river level. It forced about 26 longhouses to be moved out of the reservoir area to the Batang Ai Resettlement Scheme (BARS) in Lubok Antu. The affected people are Iban longhouse dwellers whose ancestors have been living in the area for generations and whose livelihood depends on shifting cultivation of hill padi and pepper. The majority of the Iban inhabitants of the area had expressed their opposition to the proposed hydroelectric project, as they thought they would lose everything they own— land, houses, crops, burial grounds, etc. However, they would consider resettlement if they were adequately compensated.
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| DOI: XXXX |
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How to cite:
Ahmad Mahdzan Ayob and Noran Fauziah Yaakub. (1991). Development and Change in Batang Ai Sarawak: Perception of a Resettled Iban Community. The Sarawak Museum Journal, XLII (63): 267-282 |
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References
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