Allowance Applicable To Division II Officers From Jan 1, 2013

Bandar Seri Begawan - Government servants in Division II who have passed both General Order (GO) and Financial Regulation (FR) tests will be given a financial incentive of $100 in monthly allowance for five years starting from January 1, 2013.

This was revealed in a briefing on the Prime Minister's Office circular Bil:11/2012 Brunei Darussalam on General Oder 1961 Test and Financial Regulation Test hosted by the Public Service Department and held yesterday at the Civil Service Institute.

Officers in Division I and II are required to attend the workshop course or exercise, which will be conducted `in-house', except for officers who have already taken and passed the tests. The tests are mandatory for officers under the Services Scheme related to positions of administrative officer, financial officer, staff under Public Service Department and auditors.

The tests, however, are optional for officers in Division II who are not under the Services Scheme.

The exam will be conducted six times a year or every two months depending on the number of candidates.

Officers under Division II who want to renew their monthly financial incentive may retake the further GO and FR tests at least three months before the financial incentive lapses.

Officers under Division II who want to renew their monthly financial allowance incentive may sit for further tests for a maximum two times and the duration in between the exams should be six months.

Officers who undergo the National In-Service exercise will also receive the monthly financial incentive allowance.

Officers in Division II who have passed both tests before the circular was released are still eligible to receive the financial incentive of $100 in monthly allowance and they will be paid from the enforced date of the incentive allowance.

The financial incentive will cease to continue for officers in Division II who pass both tests and are promoted to Division I.

Awang Jaini bin Hj Abdullah, the Director General of the Public Service Department, in his speech recalled, "His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam during the visit to the Public Service Department on April 25 delivered a titah stating that General Order Test and Financial Regulation Test need to be reviewed according to the current needs and approaches, while policies that are deemed not suitable should be replaced with effective methods."

He added, "In support of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's titah, it was announced that His Majesty has consented that 1961 General Test - General Order and Financial Regulation Tests governed by the circular letter of the Prime Minister's Office 13/2009 be amended. The ciscular letter on the matter was issued on November 26. 2012."

The amendment of the circular letter he said "is aimed to streamline and look for suitable approaches to make GO and FR tests more systematic.

The 1961 General Test or better known as General Order (GO) Test as well as Financial Test or FR were created to govern all the actions of government officers in carrying out their daily tasks in the public service. Therefore integrity in the public service is important and should be taken seriously."

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin