Offices needed for Penghulus and village heads
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Certain residents in the country believed that the allocation of permanent offices for their Penghulus and village heads in their respective areas could alleviate the problems of miscommunication between the heads and villagers.

According to them, some of their mukim and village representatives were hard to locate as they usually operate from their own dwellings.

"Their houses were not their offices so understandably it was difficult for them to operate from there. Permanent offices with a few administration staff and office facilities may solve this problem," they said.

They alleged that they did not receive their allowances allocated to them by the government on time because of a break in communication.

Citizens of Brunei Darussalam are entitled for various allowances such as old-age pensions once they reached the age of 60. These allowances were obtained via Penghulus and village heads.

Some Penghulus and Ketua kampongs have made their own initiatives of delivering the allowances to the residences of entitled villagers.

However, because of a break in communication some deliveries were made elsewhere such as at mosques and suraus, as the two parties could not locate each other.

When contacted, the Brunei Muara District Office said there is no regulation that stated such allowances must be delivered to the houses of entitled villagers.

"It is up to both parties to communicate with each other at a convenient time," said the office.

A few villagers however alleged that in certain incidences, they could not contact their village representatives, as their phones were out of order.

"We would usually call them before we go there to collect our allowances. But if their phones were out of order, then we could not communicate. We cannot just go to their houses as they might not be in," they said.

They were hoping for their representatives to occupy a permanent office with staff and modern facilities so they could come and see them anytime during office hours.

"At least with a proper office, the representatives can leave our entitlement to their secretaries or clerks. We understand that our Penghulus and village heads are very busy as they also need to attend meetings," they said.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin