A total of $327,313,000 or 5.79 per cent from the newly apportioned sum taken from the consolidated fund has been made available for the expenditure of social welfare and to eradicate poverty in Brunei Darussalam.

This was revealed by YB Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Hj Abd Rahman, the Minister of Finance II, during the third day of the Legislative Council Session yesterday.

Three million dollars will go to the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports to implement research work programmes on eradicating poverty, he said, adding that $9 million for “donation aid” would be made available for those who qualify.

To help finance employers’ contributions to the Supplemental Contributory Pension Scheme that was enforced on January 1, 2010, a total of $23.4 million has been made available, he said.

“This amount does not include the $340.3 million that was made available by the government to pay catch-up for qualified participants.”

From the aspect of health services, besides the $5 million that was made available to tackle outbreaks of diseases, an additional $6.43 million was made available for upgrading medical service for outpatients, as well as purchasing medical equipment and ambulances.

A sum of $22 million has been approved as addition to the allocation, said the minister, adding that as much as $40 million will be used t,o, purchase medicine for the financial year of 2009/2010.

Highlighting the importance of increasing training for youth development, the minister said: “A number of projects and programmes will continue to be implemented in a bid to overcome issues of poverty and unemployment… such as the youth entrepreneurship development programme organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports.”

In addition to the allocation of $220,000 for activities for mukims and villages consultative councils, as much as $200,000 has been put aside for the “economy activities account” for mukims and villages organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, he added.

Meanwhile, an allocation of $656.3 million has been put aside for public facilities and construction. The money would be used to “increase the level of provision in basic infrastructure and services like electricity supply services, housing, roads, recreational places and sport venues”, said the minister.

It is hoped that with these allocations of funds, the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam would not only ensure that every child in the country will be able to go to school but also encourage more economic activity in the community, particularly at the grassroots level.

• 'City in the Garden' for a 'Green' Brunei
• CCTV to be installed at Kiulap roundabout
• HSBC Brunei celebrates Year of Dragon
• Collision claims two lives
• Time off from school for children affected in Sabah bus crash