Minister of Home Affairs Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman shared updates on the Water Village Revitalisation projects under the National Development Plan during the eighth day of the First Meeting of the 22nd Session of the Legislative Council yesterday.

He said, “The project is currently in discussion stage with Ministry of Finance and Economy under the National Development Plan committee to identify what are the real impact to the country when we need to spend around BND30 million for the project.”

Meanwhile, in response to a question on the collapsed houses at Kampong Ayer, he shared, “the Ministry of Development has carried out a study in stages on the issue. The houses are actually the responsibility of the owner themselves and the project carried out by government is to improve access which is the bridges of the water village. There is an allocation of more than BND1 million and the yearly budget of BND700,000 to replace the old bridges.”

He also outlined the provision of temporary shelters, noting that one facility is located in Tutong District and another in Brunei-Muara District. He highlighted that temporary shelters were previously set up in “blue camps,” which were not suitable for long-term stays.

Currently, vacant flats have been refurbished and repurposed as temporary shelters, reflecting a whole-of-government approach and strong collaboration between the community and the government.

Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin also touched on many locals working as low paying subordinates under foreigners.

He shared, “Employers seeking to recruit foreign workers must first obtain a clearance letter from the Job Centre. This involves a process where the position must be advertised multiple times to ensure priority is given to local citizens. Only when there is no local interest in the role will approval be granted for foreign recruitment.”

(news source: Borneo Bulletin; pic source: Info Foto, Jabatan Penerangan)