BY Rokiah Mahmud

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 presented land grants and house keys to 446 citizens during a ceremony in Tutong Sixth Form Centre on Thursday to ensure a high quality of life among its people – a step closer to realising the goals of Vision 2035.

The monarch’s arrival at sixth form centre was welcomed by Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman, Minister of Development Dato Paduka Awang Haji Mohd Juanda bin Haji Abdul Rashid and Acting Tutong District Officer Ajmin bin Haji Meludin.

The acting district officer in a speech expressed gratitude to His Majesty and said the presentation of land grants and house keys was a blessing that shows the monarch’s care and concern to the people’s wellbeing thus cultivating solidarity among the populace.

Of the 446 individuals, 209 received land grants under the Land Lot Grant Scheme for Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) – 125 in Tutong District and 84 in Belait District. Some 237 individuals were awarded terrace houses under the Kampong Bukit Beruang National Housing Scheme (RPN Kampong Bukit Beruang), Tutong District.

After the presentation ceremony, His Majesty toured the sixth form centre where the monarch was welcomed by Minister of Education Datin Seri Paduka Dr Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh. After the visit, the monarch made a stop at Sayyidina Othman Secondary School before visiting house key recipients Haryani binti Haji Yahaya and Mohamad Khairi bin Haji Mahadi at their residences in Jalan Paya Namurai of RPN Kampong Bukit Beruang.

Each terrace house has a 85.9-square-metre floor area and comes equipped with three bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen. RPN Kampong Bukit Beruang has 530 units of detached; 500 units of semi-detached; 368 units of cluster-type and 1,348 units of terrace houses.

To date, about 30,000 houses have been constructed under the National Housing Scheme (RPN) and Landless Indigenous Citizens Housing Scheme (STKRJ) nationwide.

From the figure, 29,005 houses have been awarded to recipients including 2,746 applicants for RPN in Tutong District.

From RPN Kampong Bukit Beruang, His Majesty headed to Golden Corporation Sdn Bhd in Kampong Penyatang, Mukim Telisai where the monarch was greeted by Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Paduka Dr Haji Abdul Manaf bin Haji Metussin.

His Majesty then visited land grants recipients Pengiran Mahmud bin Pengiran Bungsu in Kampong Kandang and Nasrul Arwadi bin Haji Nekman in Kampong Kuala Tutong.

The Land Grant Scheme was introduced in 1994 in Tutong District. Some 2,674 lots or 646,890 acres have been granted to citizens of which 971 lots were in Brunei-Muara District, 641 in the Belait District, 881 in Tutong District and 181 in Temburong Districts.

His Majesty also paid a visit to Kampong Penabai Village Head Mohammad Sofiyuddin bin Mohammad Serudin in Kampong Kuala Tutong and concluded on Thursday’s series of visits in the district with a stopover at Tutong Senior Citizens Activity Centre where the monarch was greeted by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Awang Haji Nazmi bin Haji Mohamad.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin