| Danial Norjidi |
INFRASTRUCTURE development, sustainable housing as well as land use and planning are among the focus areas of the Ministry of Development (MoD) Policy Framework Paper.
Minister of Development YB Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar spoke on the Policy Framework Paper during the Legislative Council meeting yesterday.
On the focus area of land use and planning, the minister shared, “With regards to direction and planning for land use, the main thrust of the ministry is to ensure that the planning and use of land is optimal, with focus on supporting socio-economic activities”.
He noted that the ministry has allocated 3,041.65 hectares of land for agricultural development. Meanwhile, among the key strategies identified to ensure optimum land use are to increase soil density, encourage infill development and vertical development.
The updating of existing legal capacity to enhance the main duties of the department to be more effective is also being implemented.
At the same time, the Ministry of Development is working on reviewing and updating relevant plans, policies and laws in order to address current issues.
Sustainable housing is another focus area.
On this, the minister said, “The provision of a sustainable and resilient housing scheme to citizens needing housing assistance is one of the government’s priorities for improving the quality of life and contributing towards political and social stability.”
Moving onto another focus area, the minister then went on to highlight that infrastructure development plays an important role in enriching the quality of life of the people as well as the country’s economic growth.
Touching on the development and management of the road network structure in the country, he highlighted that the MoD takes great concern with regards to the safety and comfort aspects of road users.
“So far the MoD has recorded a total of 3,100km of roads for the whole country and this is expected to increase in the future,” he said.
“To this end, various programmes of enhancement, maintenance and improvement have been arranged through annual and also long-term programmes through the National Development Plan for road network systems.”
He added that the ministry is also implementing programmes towards enhancing connectivity to open up opportunities for the growth of socio-economic activities and also solutions to increasing road congestion issues through the development of road infrastructure and bridges, where several mega projects have been completed and opened to traffic.
In addressing issues of flood mitigation, improving sanitation and the protection of coastal areas from erosion, the MoD continues to focus on holistic improvement measures and integration with other agencies.
Through projects that have been implemented so far, the government has successfully reduced flood risk areas to 55 per cent, increased coastal protection from erosion to 60 per cent, and improved sanitation systems to 93 per cent, and intends to continue to improve its services through the projects proposed in the 11th National Development Plan (RKN11).
In achieving almost 100 per cent water supply to the residents and people in the country, the MoD also focusses on RKN 11 to ensure the efficient management of water resources and clean water supply according to the standard of the World Health Organization, and reduce water wastage from 45 per cent to a lower level through the replacement of old water pipes.
With Brunei’s water consumption still among the highest in the Asian region with a daily consumption of 380 litres per person, the resistance of our water resources for future generations will be affected if awareness to use water wisely is still low.
To this end, continuous efforts in raising awareness among the public to practice a culture of saving and use water wisely, as well as the ministry’s efforts in replacing old pipes – including reviewing the price of water tariffs, are also being implemented.
He added that the introduction of prepaid water metres to replace the existing conventional water metres is also in the works to be carried out in stages with the aim of addressing water bill payment and arrear issues.
Another focus area is that of sustainable housing.
On this, the minister said, “The provision of a sustainable and resilient housing scheme to citizens needing housing assistance is one of the government’s priorities for improving the quality of life and contributing towards political and social stability.”
He said that, in preparation for a sustainable housing scheme, until February 2018, the National Housing Scheme (RPN) has allocated 26,952 houses comprising 22,139 houses under the National Housing Scheme and 4,813 houses under the Landless Indigenous Citizens Housing Scheme (STKRJ).
Meanwhile, 1,932 land lots have also been allocated, comprising 1,888 lots under RPN and 44 lots under STKRJ.
The Housing Focus Group (HFG), a taskforce that was formed in 2016 and comprises government agencies involved in housing assistance programmes, aims to address housing assistance issues in an integrated way, and has identified a number of key actions to be taken.
The minister shared that these include promoting the existing assistance schemes, reviewing eligibility requirements for assistance under the National Housing Scheme, exploring alternative mechanisms to produce more resilient housing while potentially providing cost savings to the government; and assessing the transition of the Housing Development Department to coordinate the implementation of policies and management of housing assistance programmes in accordance with the reforms being planned.