| Danial Norjidi |
OUT of 161 registered cooperatives in Brunei, 69 have an active status, leaving 92 with a non-active status, according to statistics shared yesterday by the Energy and Industry Department at the Prime Minister’s Office (EIDPMO), during the Enterprise Open Day event in Temburong organised by DARE (Darussalam Enterprise).
The department also explained that active means currenty still in operation, while inactive means the cooperative has not started operations or has ceased to operate.
The 69 active cooperatives have a total of 17,695 members with shares totalling $30,689,014.87.
Out of these active cooperatives, Brunei-Muara District has 47, with 12,818 members and a total of $24,077,447.56 in shares.
Belait has five active cooperatives with 1,095 members and shares totalling $2,294,280.12, while Tutong’s 12 active cooperatives has 2,122 members and $3,133, 376.73 in shares. Temburong’s five active cooperatives have 1,930 members with shares totalling $1,183,910.46.
Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, the Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office speaking to the media at the event. – DANIAL NORJIDI
At the same time, the EIDPMO is working to ensure that the cooperatives are managed and organised in terms of accounting and financial affairs.
For 30 of the active cooperatives that recently updated their audited accounts, the annual income is $32,391,754.62 with bank loans amounting to $177,252.91.
Meanwhile, the remaining active cooperatives will be given assistance in the updating of their accounts which is hoped to be completed by the end of the year.
The current plan is to also absorb the active cooperatives into the Industry Business Academy programme under DARE beginning this month, including training for business management and book-keeping.
Letters were despatched to all cooperatives on August 16, instructing them to submit their updated financial statements, with a deadline of two weeks to comply or provide an explanation for failure to do so.
Out of the 92 inactive cooperatives, 54 are from Brunei-Muara District, 16 from Belait District, 12 from Tutong District and 10 in Temburong District, with an overall total of 5,444 members and shares totalling $32,717,230.74.
The 54 inactive cooperatives in Brunei-Muara District have 2,420 inactive members with total shares of $1,188,841.54, while the inactive 16 Belait cooperatives have 1,383 members and shares amounting to $377,438.80. The Tutong District’s 12 inactive cooperatives have 597 members with $245,677.89 in total shares, while Temburong’s 10 inactive cooperatives with 1,044 members have $216,257.64 in total shares.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the Enterprise Open Day event in Temburong District yesterday, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, the Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office, highlighted the importance of accountability.
“Cooperatives must be accountable and responsible for their investors’ money. You should not deal indiscriminately with other people’s money, so accountability must be there.”
He also added that assistance is available for the inactive cooperatives. “If they have issues on their financial statements, we will help them out, in terms of getting a more correct picture of their finances.”
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