History of Economic Development

A rural area, like Beliong, plays an important role in supporting the lives of the people in the urban area of Sarawak. As stated by Heilig (2002), who carried out rural area projects for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), a rural area is an important area providing agricultural products, natural resources, leisure places, biodiversity reserves and suitable living environments for the nearby urban people. In order to maintain the importance of rural areas to the people, there are five rural development dimensions believed to be the key factors. They are human, economic, science and technology, resources and the environment, and political influences, that affect the sustainability of rural development activities (Heilig, 2002). The same concept applies to the case study site of Beliong. These

five rural development dimensions were also identified as main factors that affect the pattern of rural developments in the case study area. Although there were no massive development projects happening in the settlements studied, development from time to time, has slowly changed the culture, socio-economic, environmental and political structures in the case study area; the life of the people and their surrounding areas were no longer the same.

The case study settlements started as rural agricultural land with a few farming and fishing settlements. The farming settlements remain but the people nowadays, due to depletion of the fish stocks, carry out fewer fishing activities. Although the case study area physically remains as a rural place with farming communities, the existing working and living environments have changed. It used to be a very busy and famous coconut farmland area but it is now more like a quiet place for elderly people to live in.

People from outside of Beliong can see changes in the different ethnic groups, especially the Chinese and Malay people in the case study area, based on their focus and involvement in farming activities throughout time. In the past, Chinese people monopolised the commercial farming activities while Malay people mainly contributed to the labour force. At the time of the study, the domination of commercial farming activities by Chinese people in the case study area has changed, as many Chinese people have abandoned their farms and many Malay people have started to be involved in planting commercial crops. In addition, the proportion of Chinese people to Malay or Iban people in the area compared to the old days is decreasing, as many of the Chinese people have left the case study area and settled elsewhere, in the city, or other places. Many Chinese families have a second home in the city and they send their children to further study in the city or other higher educational institutions found in other places. Most of the time, this group of young Chinese chooses to settle and work in the city after completing their studies. The main reason is that it is easier to find a suitable job that is suited to their abilities and at the same time, the city offers a better benefits and working environment. In addition, the city and other places could provide a better living environment for them.

In the old days, the Chinese people in the case study area mainly planted coconuts, besides bananas, for commercial purposes, but there are signs that farmers intend to replant the coconut farms with oil palm, in the near future. Currently, a group of second and third generation Chinese farmers in the case study area have started to plant oil palm in the coconut farmlands they inherited from their parents. They tried to save the value of the land by making use of these big farmlands. This group of people are those with a better financial background and as such, they are able to start planting oil palm in the case study area by

themselves. They brought in new knowledge and skills of planting, maintaining and operating palm oil farms, which requires the usage of modern machinery, equipment and other different agricultural inputs. Their initiative has developed and changed the traditional coconut farm into a modern farming practice. It was common for farmers to manually do all the planting, harvesting, collecting and processing jobs of coconuts; all of these jobs are labour and time intensive. But with modern farming practices, farmers have become more reliant on high technology machinery and equipment.

Other developments seen in the case study area are the implementation of infrastructure development projects by the government. Beliong is like other rural places in Sarawak that are undergoing rural economic development processes. The government is carrying out various types of development projects for the case study area through various agencies. For example, Beliong, as one of the areas targeted by the Integrated Agriculture Development Area (IADA) Samarahan Unit, has benefited from some infrastructure development projects carried out under the Ministry of Agricultural and Agro-Based Industry Malaysia. In 2006- 2010, the IADA Samarahan Unit successfully obtained approval for the construction of three and a half kilometres of farm roads, seven kilometres of drains, one jetty, three bridges and a culvert system for Beliong (MOA, 2012). This development brought changes to the physical environment in the case study area and it consequently changed the lives of people. IADA has planned more development projects for Beliong for the coming years.

Of all the agricultural and infrastructure developments planned and implemented for the case study area, the direct-access link from Beliong to the mainland of Sarawak is perceived to be one of the main developments that might bring greater change to the lives of the people there. This link refers to a bridge, a ferry service and a road that connects the case study area to the city; a more easy and flexible way that enables the people to go back and forth to the city or, at least, to the nearby settlements out of Beliong. As mentioned before in the early section of this chapter, Beliong is like an island surrounded by rivers and the sea. Boats are the only transportation mode found in the case study area. One boat can carry a maximum of eight to ten people or five persons with two motorcycles, at a time.

However, if there is a direct access link to the mainland of Sarawak, such as the proposed road and bridge, the ways of living and working in the case study area will change accordingly. The costly transportation fee to transfer goods across the river has added to the living costs of the people and their communities. For example, due to this transportation difficulty, the profits from selling agricultural products are lower and the costs of bringing in goods for the farm or other purposes are relatively higher than other places in the surrounding

settlements which are accessible by roads. The transportation difficulty is also a barrier for other types of development to happen in the case study area.