KUCHING: Mount Siburan (Bung Siburan) has plenty of tourism potentials but unfortunately the local people still cannot afford to tap them fully at the moment.

Although a ceremonial house known as ‘panggah’ and a building resembling an ancient longhouse with five rooms have been built on top of the mountain more than 20 years ago, the facilities were under-utilised due to lack of promotion by its owner, Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Kebudayaan Siburan Asal (JKKSA), as admitted by its chairman Temenggong Austin Dimin Niyon yesterday. 

The association was unable to promote the place because something was still lacking, he said during a visit to the heritage site yesterday.

“We already have electricity, reliable water supply from gravity feed and street lightings to brighten up the whole area at night but what we still don’t have is proper public toilets and washrooms. That is why we can’t really promote the area fully.

“But lately, the government through Assistant Minister of Public Health Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, approved a grant of RM80,000 for us to build proper toilets and bathrooms which we will implement this year,” he said.

Dimin said only after the completion of the facilities would they undertake a more aggressive campaign to promote the place, best used as a retreat of sorts.

Meanwhile, deputy speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, Datuk Roland Sagah, who is also JKKSA advisor, said the serenity of Bung Siburan was not the only attraction but the artefacts at Kampung Sentah atop Bung Siburan were what attracted the foreign tourists most.

“Kampung Sentah is the ancestral village of the Siburan Bidayuhs. It is the oldest village in Siburan and has been in existence for more than 630 years.

“The most interesting part is that visitors can see for themselves the sacred places of our ancestors which are being preserved and maintained until today,” he said.

He said once the facilities were ready, people could come at any time and even stay overnights at the longhouse.
“This place has plenty to offer to visitors except that no serious efforts have been done to really market it yet. We believe that after the toilets are completed we should be able to promote the area in a bigger scale to attract more visitors which will also benefit the villagers,” he said.

Siburan SAO Ranum Bari and Siburan Bidayuh community leader Pemanca Raymond Jihap were among those who came for the visit yesterday.