| Syazwani Hj Rosli |
THE Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), through its district office, up to August this year, has carried out 181 internal operations and has so far collected compounds amounting to BND39,200, while the Municipal Board has conducted 288 internal operations and collected BND5,600, Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong said yesterday.
He made these comments during a dialogue session with the members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) at the Brunei-Muara District Office.
The minister also announced that MoHA is in the process of introducing laws and regulations for hawker activities, to ensure the health and safety of the public and environment.
MoHA has been working closely with the authorities in maintaining the cleanliness and quality of life in Brunei Darussalam.
On the subject of the country’s youth, the minister said, “Our ministry has taken the initiative and as its new policy to appoint designated youth to help mobilise their respective mukim and village consultative councils (MPMK). It is also aimed towards developing economic, socio-cultural factors and solidarity at the grassroots level, commencing in January next year.”
He also emphasised that MoHA is also responsible for preserving the country’s social harmony.
“Towards this, a number of initiatives and programmes have been carried out to enhance the solidarity of the community through Satu Kampong Satu Keluarga (One Village, One Community), which will be implemented this year. It is one of our ministry’s efforts to inculcate and establish a community that lives and cares about one another, based upon integrity and harmony.”
Regarding the One Village, One Product (1K1P) initiative, the minister explained that DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) will assist to conduct several programmes to enhance the quality of local products in terms of packaging, presentation and marketing.
“It is my hope that such efforts would help the products to gain a market, not only within the country, but would also penetrate the regional market,” he said.
On property taxes, “We also take into account the collection and arrears of property taxes. Alhamdulillah, as of October 2018, the municipal boards have collected a total of BND3,025,797.37, and thus reduced the amount of arrears from BND47,363,297.09 to BND44,337,499.72. In the meantime, Alhamdulillah, I am pleased to announce that in helping generate revenue growth through easy and quick tax payment, our ministry will launch ‘online payment’ for property taxes by the end of this November.”
The minister also cited the titah of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam during the recent Civil Service Day celebrations, calling for more efficient approaches in providing effective and efficient services for the public and the country.
“In this regard, a drop-box facility for new working visa applications by private companies was introduced by the Immigration and National Registration Department (INRD) in May last year,” said the minister.
He added, “The initiative has also been levied for the application of domestic workers’ visa on October 1, 2018 which has had a positive impact, especially in saving the time of application, without compromising the prescribed period for the public services.”
The dialogue session continued with a briefing by Permanent Secretary (Safety, Welfare and Law) at MoHA Mohd Amir Hairil bin Haji Mahmud on the role and development of the ministry, as well as its main strategies in achieving the goals of Brunei Vision 2035.
During the session, a member of the LegCo and head of the delegation Yang Berhormat Haji Mohimin bin Haji Johari @ Jahari also delivered a remark on behalf of the council.
The dialogue session is intended as a platform for the exchange and sharing of ideas, information, issues, views and proposals that may be brought before future LegCo meetings as a useful mechanism for national development and stability.
Permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries, heads of departments and senior officers of MoHA and all departments under it were also present.