| Rokiah Mahmud |
A PRESENTATION ceremony was held at the Chancellor Hall of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) yesterday, during which 545 individuals received their house key plaques from 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.
The gesture reflects the monarch’s concern for his subjects, while also demonstrating the Brunei Government’s commitment towards providing sustainable and affordable housing in line with the goals of Brunei Vision 2035.
His Majesty’s arrival at the Chancellor Hall was welcomed by the Minister of Development Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar; Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong; Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Mokti bin Haji Mohd Daud; Deputy Minister of Development Haji Marzuke bin Haji Mohsin; and Brunei-Muara District Officer Misle bin Haji Abdul Karim.
In his welcoming address, the Brunei-Muara District Officer expressed gratitude and unwavering loyalty towards His Majesty, on behalf of the housing scheme recipients.
Out of the 545 recipients, 489 were awarded with cluster house units under the Kampong Lugu National Housing Scheme (RPN Kampong Lugu).
The rest received semi-detached houses, with 24 under the RPN Kampong Panchor Mengkubau Scheme; 10 under the RPN Kampong Meragang; three under the RPN Tanah Jambu; and 19 of the ‘E’ and ‘F’ types under the STKRJ Kampong Lugu.
After the presentation ceremony, the monarch stopped by the Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah Insitute of Health Sciences (PAPRSB IHS), UBD which is expanding its disciplines to include various training courses and high-impact research, in order to achieve its vision of being among the top-ranked health science institutions in Asia.
From UBD, His Majesty proceeded to Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), which was recognised as a five-star institution in 2018, based on the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Star Rating System.
UTB has over 1, 400 students with 594 in the Faculty of Engineering, 288 in the School of Business, 262 in the School of Computing and Informatics, 71 in the School of Applied Sciences and Mathematics, 50 in the School of Design, and 230 in post-graduate programmes.
After UTB, His Majesty visited the residence of Village Head of Kampong Jerudong and the Acting Village Head of Kampong Jerudong ‘B’ (Peninjau) Haji Mohd Rais bin Haji Ishak.
Kampong Jerudong has an area of 60 square kilometres and a population of 11,000.
The monarch also honoured the housing scheme recipients at RPN Kampong Lugu with a visit to their new homes, including those of Mohammad Hilmi bin Haji Wasli, Hajah Adri Alieana binti Haji Mohd Alias, Mazlina binti Jaludin and Nordin bin Haji Bakar.
RPN Kampong Lugu in Mukim Sengkurong has 1,000 cluster-type housing units with a comprehensive housing concept which will include public amenities such as a school, a mosque, a recreational park and a playground in the future.
According to statistics from the Housing Development Department, there are currently more than 28,000 houses and land lots under the National Housing Scheme across the country.
Out of that number, 18,699 are in the Brunei-Muara District, 6,581 in the Belait District, 2,695 in the Tutong District and 635 in the Temburong District.