New village head handed appointment certificate
By James Kon

Dato Paduka Hj Md Yusof (R) presents the Certificate of Appointment to Awg Puspa Wira.

Guest of honour unveils the signboard of the Head of Kg Rimba while the Acting District Officer of Brunei-Muara District and other Government officials look on.

All the Chiefs and Heads of Villages in the Brunei-Muara District were urged to make good use of the "Mukim and Village Consultative Council" in each village and "Mukim" as a place where they could meet and discuss any future plans, activities or development with the people of the respective villages. This sentiment was echoed by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dato Paduka Hj Md Yusof bin Hj Md Hassan in the welcoming speech as the Guest of honour at the appointment certificate presentation ceremony for Awg Puspa Wira bin Haji Md Noor as the Head of Kg Rimba yesterday afternoon.

Dato Hj Md Yusof also said that constructive ideas from participants might help achieve the objectives of the "Mukim and Village Consultative Council" which is also in line with the rulebook of the Regulatory Board and the Council.

With the aims of strengthening the effectiveness of the institution of Heads and chiefs of villages and of planning and implementing development that is beneficial to the people of the country, the guest of honour called upon all the Heads of Villages to cooperate with each other, unite and to get involved in any activities organised by the Council.

He hopes that the Youth in each village should also be included in the village council, especially in terms of planning activities that could fill up their spare time, thereby helping them to avoid getting into any unnecessary trouble. And with the cooperation between different level of the community, hopefully the crime and anti social activities that had shaken the stability of the country will be eradicated.

Awg Puspa Wira bin Hj Md Noor was elected as the Head of Kg Rimba on July 4, 2003.

In the election last year, he received 76 votes out of 80 agreeing to the appointment as the Head of Kampong Rimba. The turnout of the voters was however lower than expected, with only 24 per cent of the eligible 330 turned up to cast their votes. This was disclosed by the Acting Brunei-Muara District Officer, Pg Abd Haris bin Pg Hj Shabudin in another speech.

Nevertheless, he felt that the discouraging turnout would not be a barrier for the development of the village and that the head of village should think positively and confidently in carrying out his duties and responsibilities as a village head.

The guest of honour then proceeded to present the Certificate of Appointment as the Head of Kg Rimba, Mukim Gadong to Awg Puspa Wira, who in turn read the oath of the Head of Village and signed the book of the Head of Village oath.

The ceremony ended with the official unveiling of the signboard of the Head of Kg Rimba just in front of the residence of Awg Puspa Wira.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin