Bandar Seri Begawan - The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports is in discussions with the Town and Country Planning Department to acquire more land for the construction of the National Service Camp in a bid to include the expansion for the second phase for the camp.

Built in an area of Batu Apoi, Temburong District, the current land size of 12 acres which has been allocated for the National Service Camp will be inadequate to implement the second phase of the camp which includes a multipurpose hall and some sports venues. Therefore, another 18 acres of land are needed for the planned expansion.

The details of the National Service Camp were revealed by Abd Salam bin Hj Md Salleh, Senior Engineer at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports during a media dialogue session on the upcoming third National Service Pilot Project yesterday.

Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Hamid bin Hj Mohd Jaafar, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports has revealed that the National Service Camp is scheduled to be completed by middle of 2014 and will accommodate up to 700 people.

He added, "Temburong District was chosen because of its suitability whereby the trainees will be exposed to the right environment to better focus on the National Service Programme."

Abd Salam bin Hj Md Salleh elaborated on the construction of the camp by saying, "Currently, we are discussing with the Town and Country Planning in acquiring more land for expansion into second phase."

He explained, "Phase one will be the immediate implementation of national service which means there will be basic facilities like accommodation, dining hall and others in the camp. The current allocation of 12 acres of land is for phase one. We are looking to expand the camp to phase two which include the construction of a multipurpose hall as well as other sports facilities. Therefore, we will need another 18 acres of land. "

The construction of the camp is under the Public Works Department, Ministry of Development, while the budget for the National Service Camp is still awaiting approval from the Department of Economic Planning and Development.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin