Borneo Bulletin Opinion
| Preventive measures
against bird flu I wish to respond to the letter published in your Opinion Column dated Saturday 29 October 2005, entitled "How prepared are we for the Bird Flu" from Very Concerned Public Health and Safety Man. We would like to thank the writer for this concern over his issue. In fact, this matter has been highlighted by the Honourable Minister of Health during a Press Conference held on the 14th September 2005. In his statement, the Minister of Health announced the establishment of the Ministry of Health Influenza Pandemic Committee. This is in response to the World Health Organisation's concern over the possibility of avian influenza evolving into an influenza pandemic. This committee is responsible for preparing and implementing the Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan of Action, aimed to protect the health of the people of Brunei Darussalam from avian influenza. This Plan of Action emphasises on major issues, such as surveillance, control and prevention; case managements; laboratory support; infection control and ensuring that the supply of drugs vaccines, health equipment and facilities are sufficient. The Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah Hospital in the Tutong District has been designated as the Isolation Hospital for Influenza patients, and several other facilities have also been identified for quarantine purposes. Currently, there are no reported cases of avian influenza in Brunei Darussalam. However, the Ministry of Health will continue to monitor the situation of the disease, and will inform the public on the development of the situation from time to time. The Ministry of Health would also like to take this opportunity to advise members of the public on the following preventive measures:- - always keep your environment clean especially poultry farms, slaughter houses and poultry markets - observe personal hygiene when handling chickens and birds - always wash hands with clean soap and clean water - avoid visiting local or foreign poultry farms - be sure that chicken and birds are properly cooked to a temperature of 70C to ensure that the virus is destroyed - be sure that eggs are also properly boiled, avoid eating half boiled eggs or partially fried eggs - confine all chicken in their cages - children should not be allowed to come near or play with chicken and other birds If you and your family members have just come from avian influenza affected areas, have visited zoos, poultry farms and markets and develop any of the following symptoms within 10 days upon arrival, please see a doctor immediately at your nearest health centre/hostpital:- - sudden onset of high fever - sore throat - running nose - cough - eye infection - difficulty in breathing For more information on avian influenza, please contact our HealthLine at 2381967 or email us at prohealth@brunet.bn. You can also visit our website at www.moh.gov.bn. - Dyg Hajah Fatmah Bte PJDSMDSU (Dr) Hj Md Jamil, - Ministry of Health |
| Turn on the lights!
What is happening to the electrical supply in KB? We've been suffering regular black-outs, that get more and more frequent in the past four weeks, twice on the first day of Raya! - Disappointed |
| Kg Sg Bera residents
need better roads JKR Dept, KB, we need your urgent attention regarding the roads of Kg Sg Bera. We saw good progress of road resurfacing in the Belait area, even small Simpangs have been taken care of. This makes the residents happy knowing fully well that JKR was doing its duty. But what about the simpangs in the Kg Sg Bera, Seria area? Only the main access road has been resurfaced some 1.5 years back But all other simpangs have not been attended and those simpangs also lead to hundreds of houses. Please pay a visit to this area, especially Spg-71 at the end, this is the only access to those interior and expanded lands in this Kampong! This road does not provide access to ten or twenty houses, it gives access to hundreds of houses along it. Heavy duty vehicles like trucks, cement mixers, excavator and other machines also use this road for the purpose of land clearing and developing. We, the residents here even had a letter sent some months ago but have seen no response. We hope the concerned department can do something to speed up the process. - Residents, Kg Sg Bera, Seria |
| Illegal stalls block
traffic A couple of illegal stalls have set themselves up near the junction between Jln Muara and Jln Kebangsaan (opposite the white MTSSR building). They frequently block and endanger the traffic. These stalls have been built too close to the main road and to the T-junction They frequently block traffic at the junction because some cars have to turn into the stalls and some have to exit from it. The parking area, if it actually existed, is sandy gravelly, uneven ground. Cars take a long time to get in and out and as a result some park on the side of the road. Their actions restrict and regularly block the traffic. The situation is ridiculous and the proper authorities should look into it. - Concerned Driver |
|
Why don't we get our allowance on
time? |
| Why is espeed
crawling? For the past two week or so, e-speed has been extremely slow even to servers close to our region. eg Taiwan, Singapore etc. The ping to USA servers is even worse. Some servers like the ones from Taiwan normally ping at 100ms or less now the ping is about 500ms! Surely this can't be right. Will this problem be fixed soon by JTB? Almost every server I tried to ping showed an increase in ping time (means slower connection speed = not good). Some are 5 times slower than before and others are like 10 times slower. - Disappointed Espeed User |
| So dark, like a
graveyard Recently when we visited my aunty's house at Kampong Beribi, Jln Gadong at Simpang 636, to break our fast, I was very excited, because this was the first time I visited them since they moved to this area, recently. The environment was beautiful and a bit quiet that evening. After performing our Maghrib prayer we decided to go home as our kampong was a bit far from Beribi. Surprisingly, I was wondering why these such beautiful homes , over 50 blocks of "terrace houses", have not got a single street light, lighting their road? Sadly the Simpang looked so terrible in the dark,like a grave yard. Once, our car nearly bumped into one of the electricty stands. It is not safe for the motorist, because the road not lit. It is very dangerous. Also there are huge potholes and the rough surface of the road that made me think twice about ever going to visit them again. Can anyone of the concerned authorities let us know why they forgot that simpang? - Disappointment Family |
| Irked over bad
service I am a regular customer at a popular gift shop at Centrepoint, Gadong. I moved to Brunei about a year and a half ago and have been patronsing the shop and its branches since my first few weeks here. Last week, I bought some gift wrappers. When I got back, I realized that the salesgirl has accidentally given me one less wrapper. I went back to the shop last Tuesday to purchase more items. At the same time, I saw one of the managers of the shop. She happily greeted me and my wife, recognising us as one of their regular customers. After saying our hellos, I decided to inform her of the missing wrapper incident. To my shock, instead of acknowledging the situation and offering some assistance, her friendliness suddenly turned to a look of dismay as she grunted for me to look for the salesgirl who attended to me in the first place. I didn't pay too much notice to her rather rude reaction and proceeded to speak to her salesgirls. The salesgirls were apologetic and extremely courteous, immediately offering to give me the wrapper they have shortchanged me. I took the wrapper and proceeded to pay for the other things I have purchased. I thought the story ended there. At that time, the manager of the shop came to the counter and curtly asked me which salesperson attended to me with the wrappers. I told her which one and she immediately raised her voice and angrily informed the salesperson that she has to pay for the wrapper that they have compensated me for. I was extremely taken aback by her behaviour. It was uncalled for and inappropriate. I felt as though she was trying to make me feel guilty for asking for what I have rightfully paid for in the first place. Not only did I not get a single word of apology for the mistake that has been done, she had the audacity to treat a customer that way. The worst thing was, the wrapper cost very little. It didn't matter to me if I wasn't compensated for it but I thought that by telling the manager, she could remind her salesgirls not to make the same mistake in future. I know Brunei is a small place and there are not many shops like this. However, it does not mean that managers / shop owners have the right to be arrogant and totally ignore good customer service practices. And in this case, sadly, it is the most senior person who seems the most lacking in interpersonal and selling skills. Most of the salespersons in the shop have never failed to be helpful and polite each time I shop there. Through this opinion, I want to reiterate that customer service is the most critical part of sales and I hope that more shops in Brunei will take more effort in ensuring that customers are treated right. Without us customers supporting the retail industry, you will not be able to sustain your business. - Disappointed Customer |
| Why is espeed
crawling? For the past two week or so, e-speed has been extremely slow even to servers close to our region. eg Taiwan, Singapore etc. The ping to USA servers is even worse. Some servers like the ones from Taiwan normally ping at 100ms or less now the ping is about 500ms! Surely this can't be right. Will this problem be fixed soon by JTB? Almost every server I tried to ping showed an increase in ping time (means slower connection speed = not good). Some are 5 times slower than before and others are like 10 times slower. - Disappointed Espeed User |
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