Saratok District Office / Rabiatutadawiah Omar

Saratok District Office (Pejabat Daerah Saratok) is a governmental local organizational aspect to govern the administration in Saratok District. It was originally named as "Fort Charles", and it was built in 1878 as an admin office by Maxwell, a member of Raj of Sarawak's staff. This Fort Charles is located in the centre of Saratok on the hilltop. It is a historical structure in the district. The office is still in the same location since before Merdeka, about1888, till the middle-late 1980s. On 30th August 2009, the office moved to a new location roughly 200 meters away from the old location at Lot 42, Saratok Town District, Jalan Muhibbah. According to the book ‘‘Legends & History of Sarawak” written by Chang Pat Poh said that the existence of Saratok is related to one old Malay man called “Dato” and his friend who always come to Saratok to visit his relatives. However, due to old age that “Dato” always went for the wrong direction, and his friend often said to him “Salah Tok” therefore, the name of Saratok was formed. Next, based on the book written by Benedict Sadin, which is The Living Legends: Borneo Telling Their Tales” the Saratok was formed due to one group of people that lead by “Segatok” which is Seru group that run away from the attack of Orang Iban and go to the hill called “Munggu”. So. it is assumed that 'Munggu' was given the title 'Munggu Segatok' in combination with the name of the Seru group's leader. The Saratok District Office was previously located on the ‘Munggu1 before being relocated to its current location. Last but not least, Saratok District, earlier known as Kalaka, is part of the Betong Divisional Administration and occupies an area of 1,686.68 square kilometres. The Saratok District Administration also developed the Nanga Budu Sub-District to accompany the Saratok District Administration.