The Penans of Batu Bungan near Mulu national park in Baram district, about 40 minutes helicopter ride from Miri, are growing in number and asking the government to provide them with a longer longhouse.

Their headman Belulok Chen said today that their 36-door longhouse which burnt down last December could hardly accommodate all his people, now numbering over 300.

Some of the rooms were cramped with as many as three families from different generations in one unit, he said after receiving financial assistance from Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Jacob Dungau.

Beluluk, whose people now live in houses they hastily built near their burnt-down home, hoped the government would hurry up building a new and much longer longhouse for them.

The Batu Bungan settlement was initiated by the Sarawak government in the early 1990s as a service centre to bring the Penans out of their nomadic way of life and to facilitate channelling of assistance to them.

The settlement has become part of the attractions of the world-renowned national park with tourists buying handicrafts from the Penans.

Sagan, who is MP for Baram, gave an assurance that the government would continue to help the Penans achieve a better livelihood.

Despite being a minority, he said, the Penans had always been given fair attention and assistance.

He said that all their requests would be submitted to the relevant ministries in Kuala Lumpur.

Sagan, who was accompanied by Miri resident Antonio Kahti Bagalis, also visited Ba Kabeng, another remote settlement in Baram district, and gave financial aid to 102 Penans who lost their home in a fire last January.

- Bernama