More to be done to reduce high road accidents

Koo Jin Shen
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

IN ORDER to bring down the Sultanate's relatively high road accident statistics, which is in the high end of the world wide average more campaigns are being looked into.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, also the Brunei Darussalam Road Safety Council Chairman Abdul Mutalib Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yusof highlighted fatalities due to road accidents as of last year are still at the 'high end' of a world wide average.

"We are still on the high end side," he said, stating also that the global annual average is around three per 100,000 population for road fatalities. In Brunei for 2011, it was around 12 per hundred thousand population, though it has significantly reduced last year.

"The number of fatalities in 2012 has gone down from 47 (fatalities) to 26. What we want to do is to reduce this, as 26 fatalities in a population of 400,000 is quite high (around six per hundred thousand population). We are looking at good practices done in countries like Europe and Japan, who have well below the 'three' per 100,000" said Abdul Mutalib.

Awareness and Safety campaigns are being planned throughout the year, he said, "We have a few things going hopefully this year, and there will be a lot of road safety campaigns being done from time to time."

He said that there are three areas they conducting. The first is encouraging road safety awareness through religious activities. The permanent secretary said that they hope to hold bimonthly special prayers, which includes Doa Selamat and recital of relevant prayers through selected mosques.

The second is through educational activities, such as the recently held World Telecommunications and Information Society Day 2013 Drawing and Essay competition which focused on how ICT can help improve road safety.

"These help tell the children what the implications are (for road safety)," he said, noting that some 400 over children had participated. "These children will have road safety in their minds and we hope they can convey that message to their parents, who bring them to school," he said.

The third campaign they intend to do focused on infrastructure and technical areas. He said the Brunei Darussalam Road Safety Council has a number of relevant agencies involved in road safety, and they plan to look around community areas such as schools and mosques in Brunei to help enhance safety for road users including pedestrians.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

ASEAN to sign new declaration on protecting women and children

Quratul-Ain Bandial
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

ASEAN leaders are expected to sign a new declaration on the elimination of violence against women and children after a committee met in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to finalise the draft.

The draft declaration will contain commitments to build adequate national welfare systems and legislation to protect women and children against violence in times of disaster, migration and labour, among others.

The declaration, which will be submitted to leaders this October at the ASEAN Summit in Brunei, will also include provisions on cyber pornography and cyber bullying.

Datin Paduka Hjh Intan Hj Mohd Kassim, Brunei representative and chairman of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), said it would be an enhancement to the declaration made in 2004.

"With the signing of the declaration, we hope that there will be more effort expended to protecting the rights of both women and children in ASEAN countries," she said at the conclusion of the meeting.

"Everybody should play a role in eliminating violence against women and children, and we hope that all countries and civil societies will support this declaration."

Datin Paduka Hjh Intan said ACWC would conduct a survey on cases involving violence against women and children in ASEAN countries.

"It is a project that we intend to implement within five years to know and understand the impact of violence on our children and women."

ACWC also submitted 10 proposals for funding by the European Union to improve the condition of women and children in Southeast Asia.

ACWC was inaugurated on April 2010 and comprises 20 representatives from 10 ASEAN countries.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

Editorial - Beyond poverty

THE myth that Brunei is a Sultanate with roads paved in gold is obviously an exaggeration but there are many, especially those who have never been to the country, who believe that everyone here is wealthy and live in big bungalows with ten cars. Going around the residential areas in the capital, one may think this is not entirely untrue. However, go further away from the suburbs to the rural areas, one can still see that poverty is very much a reality in this blessed country of ours.

Why is this so?

We have to understand that while Brunei is considered a rich country with a per capita income at US$31,000 (about $40,000), it does not reflect the reality on the ground. While Brunei's citizens enjoy many special privileges compared to neighbouring countries, there are many individuals that, through ignorance or lack of education, have not taken advantage of the opportunities provided by the government.

Education, for example, is free. But there are parents who do not and cannot send their children to school because they do not have enough money to buy uniforms and books, or even petrol for their cars. We have had, time and again, published cases of unemployed parents who had to put food at the top of their list, rather than education for their children. "We have to change the perception that there are no poor people in Brunei," said Darussalam Holdings Compliance Officer Hj Shamsul Baharin Hj Abd Rahman in an interview on Tuesday. The team from the company had visited a poor family living in a small shack near a paddy field to provide them with foodstuff to get them through Ramadhan and prepare for Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Many companies do charity work during Ramadhan but the effort must go beyond this period; not just on providing foodstuff and cash donations, but in giving motivation and to ensure that the poor will be able to give their children an education. Donated foodstuff can last you a day or a month but with an education, InsyaAllah, you will be able to put food on the table every day.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

Brunei Darussalam: Questions on ‘mega-bridges’ financing

As plans for three new ‘mega-bridges’ take shape, the government intends to impose stringent environmental assessments for the vast structures. However, critics say equal emphasis should also be placed on identifying financing options to avoid construction delays.

On June 20, the Ministry of Development signed a $138.9m deal with domestic firm Swee Sdn and South Korea’s Daelim Industrial to build the Sungai Brunei Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge, which, at 607 metres in length, will connect Kampung Sungai Kebun to Jalan Residency. Daelim will assume responsibility from design to construction and have a 67% stake in the venture.

Set to be complete in 2016, the bridge will cut the journey time for local residents, who currently have to travel around 30 km via Jalan Bengkurong-Masin and Jalan Tutong to reach the capital. The new bridge will have a two-lane carriageway and pedestrian walkways.

Three weeks earlier, while discussing the proposed Temburong Bridge that will stretch 30 km to link Brunei-Mura District and Temburong District, Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance) Awang Haji Mohammad Lutfi bin Abdullah said efforts must be made to ensure bridge projects do not harm the environment.

“The protection of the environment is of paramount importance to Brunei Darussalam and it is imperative that there are minimal adverse effects arising from the construction of the [Temburong] Bridge,” said Awang, advising an environment impact survey to leave “no stone unturned”.

On June 27, the government announced tenders for the Temburong project, saying it involved the construction of a 13.4-km marine viaduct across the Brunei Bay, an 8.1-km viaduct across the Brunei channel and a viaduct across the Eastern channel stretching 5.3 km.

Officials say that the bridge, set to be complete by 2018, will boost development in Temburong, which is currently separated from the other three districts by Malaysian territory. Completion will also mean that the country has realised a key section of the Pan Borneo Highway.

Contracts were awarded for the bridge’s initial assessments in May, with the director of the London-based Arup Group – which was appointed the civil and structural consultant – saying that the project would be “fast-tracked” for completion. Six local firms were also contracted to conduct environmental impact assessments, soil investigation, and marine and land surveying. Construction contracts are set to be divided into a number of packages, with the first tender scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013.

A third bridge is planned to connect the mainland to the island of Pulau Muara Besar, located at the mouth of the Brunei River, which would form part of a $4bn project to develop an integrated refinery and aromatic complex there. Last August, it was revealed that South Korean engineering firm Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants was undertaking consultancy work for the planned structure.

The three mega-projects will create financing challenges, and senior officials are calling for an innovative approach to raising capital.

On July 1, the chairman of the board of directors for Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam, Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, said Islamic bonds could be used to raise funds.

"If [the government is] to offer papers that are in compliance with Islamic principles, in the big numbers, we will buy. They should issue Islamic papers because, after all, the projects are in Brunei … [It is] exciting times for banks and people who invest," he said.

Funding decisions are seen as a key factor in why the bridges, planned since 2011, have taken so long to see meaningful progress, with critics saying that the private sector wasn’t needed to raise funds given the Sultanate’s oil and gas wealth.

Last September, the chairman of Malaysia’s UEM Group, an engineering and construction firm, said that, due to Brunei Darussalam's small economy, he does not think that the Temburong Bridge project would follow other ASEAN economies' model of build-operate-transfer.

"[The bridge project] will be more government funded, so how the government does that – through deferred payment or through direct contract – will be looked at," he said, adding that in other South-east Asian countries these types of projects are often privatised and the investment is recovered through tolls.

While the contract tendering and environmental impact assessments underline that mega-bridge projects have stepped up a gear in their development, only through greater transparency over their long-term funding will the government reassure investors and Bruneians that they will be completed on schedule.

Dipetik dari - Oxford Business Group

NGOs urge Brunei to draft Child Protection declaration

Quratul-Ain Bandial

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A COALITION of non-government organisations (NGO) from the Philippines has urged Brunei as ASEAN chair, to draft a declaration advocating the elimination of violence against children that will include special protection for children on the Internet.

The draft declaration would also include provisions that require Southeast Asian countries to improve domestic labour laws and eliminate child labour.

Under the cyberspace provision, the declaration would oblige member states to combat the use of technology to sexually exploit children, and support educational measures on these dangers.

The draft stated that governments should encourage the ICT industry to undertake research on protective hardware and software solutions and fund worldwide education campaigns on safe use of technology.

The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) is in the process of drafting a declaration on the elimination of violence against women and children, but the Philippine NGO Coalition emphasised that children required a different level of protection altogether.

In a letter addressed to Datin Paduka Hjh Intan Hj Mohd Kassim, Brunei's representative to ACWC, the coalition said there should be a separate declaration addressing the rights of children, in line with the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

"Violence against children by itself is complex and multi-dimensional, and if merged with the issue of violence against women, there is the strong likelihood that crucial considerations will be diluted in both sectors, thereby defeating the entire purpose of protecting women and children from all forms of violence," read the statement signed by Rowena D Cordero, convenor for the Philippine NGO Coalition on the UN CRC.

"There are various forms of violence affecting children wherever they are from their homes to the communities and even in cyberspace that need very specific measures."

The coalition said the UN Global Study on Violence Against Children provides "strong and persuasive evidence" on the vulnerability of children in different settings, and that a declaration specifically addressing this is an appropriate response to the study.

"An [ASEAN] declaration will set the standards for child protection in the region. ASEAN members, being signatories to the UN CRC, must be committed to taking forward the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child," said the coalition.

The Philippine NGO coalition added that any drafting of a potential declaration should include civil society organisations, taking into consideration the different situations of children in each ASEAN country. "We must include children, themselves being rights holders, in the discussion," said the coalition in a statement.

"We recognise the initial efforts of ACWC in involving the civil society in its processes ... It is our most ardent manifestation that ACWC strongly consider the above recommendations from the civil society so that the end result is an ASEAN Declaration to Eliminate all Forms of Violence Against Children."

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

Jana pekerjaan belia jadi tumpuan

Oleh Sim Y. H.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 19 Julai – Menteri Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri, Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Othman menekankan keutamaan mendalami Program Kerja Menteri-menteri Buruh ASEAN (2010-2015) dalam menangani kesan globalisasi serta perbincangan penting yang sedang berjalan di dalam ASEAN berhubungan dengan pekerjaan belia.

Penekanan dan perkongsian itu dibuat oleh Yang Berhormat Pehin dalam kenyataan yang dibuat semasa Mesyuarat Menteri-menteri Pekerjaan dan Buruh G20 yang berlangsung di Moscow, Rusia pada 18 dan 19 Julai, menurut kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri, hari ini.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Badaruddin turut mengetengahkan mengenai pencapaian yang diperoleh semasa Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN ke-22 yang berlangsung di Negara Brunei Darussalam pada April lalu, di mana beliau berkata pemimpin-pemimpin negara-negara anggota ASEAN memberikan penekanan mengenai pentingnya penjanaan pekerjaan dan jaring keselamatan sosial di dalam sektor perusahaan kecil dan sederhana.

Penekanan itu adalah bermatlamat untuk mengurangkan jurang perbezaan pembangunan serantau dengan penglibatan secara langsung persatuan dan organisasi bukan kerajaan serta sektor swasta yang berkenaan.

Yang Berhormat Pehin juga menyatakan penghargaan kepada Rusia selaku presiden G20 di atas sokongan kepada ASEAN dalam proses G20.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Badaruddin mewakili Negara Brunei Darussalam yang merupakan Pengerusi ASEAN 2013 ke mesyuarat yang dihadiri oleh menteri-menteri dan pegawai-pegawai kanan kerajaan dari negara-negara G20.

Turut serta dalam rombongan Negara Brunei Darussalam ke mesyuarat berkenaan ialah Setiausaha Tetap Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri, Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Majid bin Mangarshah serta pegawai-pegawai kanan dari Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri dan Jabatan Buruh.

Semasa mesyuarat dua hari itu, menteri-menteri dan pegawai-pegawai kanan mengongsi pengalaman berhubungan dengan tiga bidang keutamaan iaitu penjanaan pekerjaan, pengaktifan buruh dan pemantauan pembangunan pasaran buruh.

Mesyuarat itu juga menyaksikan pembentangan kertas-kertas kerja berhubungan dengan isu-isu buruh yang dibentangkan oleh pelbagai organisasi antarabangsa termasuk Organisasi Buruh Antarabangsa (ILO), Bank Dunia dan Organisasi bagi Pembangunan dan Kerjasama Ekonomi (OECD).

Dipetik dari - Media Permata

NDP menyusuli menyantuni mangsa kebakaran rumah panjang Temburong

Timbalan Presiden Haji Juned Hj Ramli beserta rombongan ketika menziarahi keluarga mangsa kebakaran

BANGAR, 18 JULAI 2013 : Memeduli mereka yang memerlukan bantuan amat digalakkan tanpa mengira batas agama , puak dan tempat, lebih lebih lagi dalam Bulan Ramadhan ini seperti mereka yang menerima musibbah kebakaran di Rumah Panjang Kampong Sumbiling Baru Temburong baru baru ini.

 

Atas kesedaran itu satu rombongan NDP yang diketuai oleh TYT Timbalan Presiden Haji Juned Haji Ramli telah menyusuli menyantuni mangsa mangsa kebakaran berkenaan, sebagai susulan rombongan menyantuni yang diketuai oleh TYT Presiden Mahmud Morshidi Othman pada 6 Julai 2013 yang lalu. Turut bersama rombongan berkenaan ialah beberapa orang Ahli Majlis Tertinggi yang lain.

Ketibaan rombongan Timbalan Presiden disambut oleh dua orang ahli Majlis Tertinggi Daerah Temburong, Saudara Haji Tajuddin bin Umar dan Saudara Haji Daud bin Abdullah. Rombongan tersebut seterusnya dibawa ke tempat penempatan sementara mangsa mangsa kebakaran di Flat Pekan Bangar. Turut mengalu alukan kehadiran Timbalan Presiden ialah Saudara Ambon anak Tarang dan ahli ahli NDP serta beberapa orang mangsa kebakaran  berkenaan.

Semasa berada disitu Saudara Haji Juned Haji Ramli , turut menyerahkan derma berupa barangan makanan kepada 16 keluarga mangsa kebakaran yang tinggal di flat berkenaan. Pada kesempatan itu beliau juga sempat beramah mesra dan menasihatkan mereka supaya bersabar atas kejadian tersebut dan seterusnya bersabar menanti apa jua tindakan yang akan dilakukan oleh pihak berkenaan.

NDP tidak lupa mengucapkan terima kasih kepada pihak kerajaan  khususnya Kementerian Kebudayaan , Belia dan Sukan dan Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri yang telah memberikan bantuan dan sumbangan terutama menempatkan mangsa mangsa kebakaran di penempatan yang mereka diami sekarang, yang menjadi pendorong kepada ahli ahli NDP dan orang ramai khususnya untuk terus komited membantu Kebawah DYMM dalam kerja kerja kebajikan dan melaksanakan tanggung jawab sosial mereka.

Sebagai tindak balas mereka atas kahadiran rombongan NDP itu, mangsa mangsa kebakaran telah menyuarakan harapan mereka supaya pihak pihak yang berkenaan akan dapat mempercepatkan pembinaan rumah panjang mereka yang telah musnah itu; manakala keluarga keluarga mereka yang ada membuat permohonan perumahan di Rancangan Perumahan Negara sejak tahun 1994 lagi juga merayu supaya permohonan mereka akan dapat dipercepatkan.

Timbalan Presiden ketika ditemui turut menyentuh mengenai pembinaan rumah panjang yang akan didirikan itu dengan berkata, "Saya ingin mengulangi pandangan NDP sebagaimana yang telah disuarakan oleh TYT Presiden Saudara Mahmud Morshidi Othman , supaya reka bentuk pembinaan rumah panjang turut mengambil kira kehadiran beberapa keluarga penghuni disitu yang telah memeluk Islam yang setentunya memerlukan ruang untuk mereka beribadat serta mengambil kira keselesaan penghuni rumah panjang berkenaan seperti mengulang kaji pelajaran misalnya."

Saudara Haji Juned menambah," Oleh kerana rumah panjang selalu menerima kunjungan luar seperti pelancong maka adalah  munasabah ruang ruang yang bersesuaian untuk istirehat atau majlis majlis tertentu turut disediakan,"ujar beliau. 

Rombongan NDP diantara ribuan rakyat yang hadir solat Zohor berjamaah di Jame Asr

JAME ASR, BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN , 15 JULAI 2013 : Presiden dan seluruh warga NDP menyembahkan ucapan Selamat Manyambut Ulang tahun Puja Usia Kebawah DYMM Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddien Waddaulah Sultan Dan Yang Dipertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam

Sambutan Ulang Tahun Puja Usia KDYMM ke 67 pada hari ini 15 Julai 2013 jatuh pada 06 Ramadhan 1434.  Tradisi Sambutan keagamaan yang sebelum ini diadakan sewaktu Solat Maghrib, pada hari ini diadakan pada waktu zohor.

Selesai Solat Zohor diadakan solat hajat diikuti dengan bacaan Surah Yassin dan Doa Kesyukuran dipimpin oleh Pehin Pehin Menteri Agama.

Seluruh warga NDP mendoakan semoga Allah SWT mengurniakan kesihatan dan kesejehteraan yang berterusan kepada KDYMM, kekal karar memerintah Negara Brunei Darussalam.

Rombongan kepimpinan NDP yang hadir dalam majlis tersebut disertai oleh Presiden, Sudara Mahmud Morshidi Othman, Timbalan Presiden Saudra Haji Juned Haji Ramli, Naib Presiden Brunei Muara Suadara Haji Mohidin Dato Paduka Pengarah Haji Othman , dan Naib Presiden Daerah Belait Saudra Pengiran Haji Zainal pengiran Talib. Turut sama ialah Pengerusi Tetap Saudara Haji Abdul Rahman Mohd Yusof dan beberapa orang ahli NDP yang lain.

Sementera itu NDP juga telah mengadakan majlis Khatam Al-Quran di Markas Pusat NDP , Limbaruh Hijau Jerudong. Majlis tadarus sempena Puja Usia KDYMM  dan doa kesyukuran adalah tradisi NDP yang telah diamalkan sejak penubuhannya 8 tahun yang lalu.

Sambutan di Limbaruh Hijau diteruskan dengan majlis berbuka puasa , solat maghrib dan Isya berjemaah dan seterusnya solat tarawikh. 

Dirgahayu Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik - Selamat Puja Usia ke-67 Tahun

Selamat Menyambut Ketibaan Ramadhan Al-Mubarak dan Selamat Menunaikan Ibadah Puasa

MANGSA MANGSA KEBAKARAN RUMAH PANJANG DISANTUNI KEPIMPINAN NDP

Presiden NDP, Saudara Mahmud Morshidi Othman (berbaju hijau kuning) bersama rombongan menyaksikan tempat kejadian kebakaran yang merenapkan keseluruhan Rumah Panjang Kampung Sumbiling, Mukim Amo, Temburong

KG. SUMBILING BARU TEMBURONG, 6 JULAI 2013:  Rombongan Parti Pembangunan Bnagsa (NDP) yang diketuai oleh TYT Presiden , Saudara Mahmud Morshidi Othman hari ini telah menyantuni mangsa-mangsa kebakaran di Rumah Panjang Kampong Sumbiling Baru , Mukim Amo , Temburong.

Rumah Panjang tersebut telah hangus keseluruhannya pada awal pagi kelamrin yang melibatkan 16 buah keluarga. 5 orang penghuni rumah panjnag berkenaan merupakan ahli NDP Daerah Temburong.

Saudara Haji Muhammad Daud bin Abdullah,  Ahli Majlis Tertinggi NDP Daerah Temburong antara yang terawal menyantuni mangsa-mangsa musibah  di tempat kejadian.

Pihak berkenaan telah bertindak segera memindahkan mangsa mangsa kebakaran ke penempatan sementara di Rumah Panjang Kampong Sibut.

Pada kunjungan rombongan petang tadi, rombongan Presiden yang disertai oleh Timbalan Presiden Saudara Haji Juned Haji Ramli, Setiausaha Badan Perhubungan Daerah Temburong yang juga Ahli Majlis Tertinggi Hj Tajuddin bin Omar dan beberapa orang ahli Majlis Tertinggi yang lainnya.

Saudara Ambon anak Tarang seroang ahli NDP yang terlibat didalam musibah tersebut telah melahirkan harapan agar pihak berkenaan dapat pada kadar segera membantu membina semula rumah panjang mereka.

Sehubungan itu, Presiden NDP berharap pembinaan semula rumah panjang tersebut hendaklah mengambil kira keselesaan penghuninya yang rata rata berpendapatan rendah dan mempunyai keluarga besar.

Menurut Saudara Morshidi, "Oleh kerana beberapa kelamin terdiri daripada saudara baru dan ramai diantara anak anak mereka kini telah memeluk agama islam, adalah dicadangkan supaya pihak berkenaan dapat menyediakan sebuah surau kecil , perpustakaan untuk anak anak dan tandas awam untuk memenuhi keperluan penghuni penghuni dan  pelancong".

Presiden NDP juga melahirkan rasa tersentuh di atas keperihatinan Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri dan Kementerian Kebudayaan Belia dan Sukan yang telah memberikan komitment untuk membantu mangsa mangsa kebakaran terutama sekali dari segi pembinaan semula rumah kediaman dan urusan dokumentasi mereka.

Sebelum meninggalkan tempat kejadian Presiden telah menasihatkan kepada mangsa mangsa yang terlibat khusnya  ahli ahli NDP supaya bersabar dan memberikan kerjasama sepenuhnya kepada pihak pihak berkenaan di dalam usaha untuk membantu mereka mebina kehidupan yang baru.