Poverty eradication programmes and the relationship of community participation and satisfaction: The case of the Ibans of Song District, Sarawak

The satisfaction level of aid recipients in a local community with any poverty eradication programme is important in determining their level of participation in the programme: a high satisfaction level is believed to contribute to the community’s high level of participation. The high level of participation will in turn contribute to the success of the programme. This study analyses the correlation between the levels of the Iban community’s satisfaction with, and participation in the poverty eradication programme initiated under the People’s Welfare Development Scheme or Skim Pembangunan Kesejahteraan Rakyat (SPKR), of the Song District, Sarawak. A questionnaire survey involving a random sampling of 260 respondents comprising the long houses’ heads of household (KIR) was conducted to collect the primary data for the correlation statistical analyses. Findings from the analyeses showed that more than half (51.9%) of the sampled KIRs enjoyed average satisfaction with the programme. Chi-Square tests presented a significant (p ≤ 0.05) correlation between their satisfaction and participation levels in the decision-making, implementation, reward-sharing and assessment activities of the programme, confirming the assumption that the higher the level of satisfaction of the target community with the SPKR poverty eradication programme the higher were their levels of participation in the various activities of the programme.