Village heads must take lead in resolving people's issues

VILLAGE heads and penghulus should be adept in their line of work by observing trends and needs, and take quick action to resolve issues, said a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official.

Facilities should be utilised to gather information through the mass media to improve the effectiveness in implementing tasks for citizens' welfare, said Pg Abd Haris Pg Hj Shabudin, yesterday.

During the handover of an appointment letter to the new village chief at a ceremony at Kg Putat, Mukim Lumapas, he said:

"We as a leader, should always equip ourselves with relevant knowledge, for instance specific laws and regulations to take appropriate action, as having knowledge and experience will definitely give self-confidence in carrying out effective work."

Village heads and penghulus should also carry out their duties proactively to ensure that issues can be detected earlier, such as conducting working visits to villages or making observations around the mukim areas.

Leaders should also have additional characteristics such as flexibility in negotiating, discussing and showing interest in any issues, and try his best to resolve the issues, said the permanent secretary.

"If we want to play a role as a good and effective facilitator, I believe that the community would be confident to work with us, however, if we do not give proper attention and cannot resolve an issue as they hoped, the community will lose confidence with us," he said.

He added: "It is the responsibility of the village chiefs to uphold the image, reputation and the standard of the mukim institution as a strong foundation between the village and the government."

The speech was then followed by the handover of the Kg Putat village chief appointment letter, followed by village chief pledge and the signing of the pledge which proceeded with the unveiling of the Kg Putat village chief signboard.

Jumat Akim was elected as the new village head, following the handover of the appointment letter and signing of the pledge at his residence in Kg Putat.

He is replacing Hj Sani Akim, who held the position for 30 years since November 1978.

Two candidates were chosen to take the role of a village head, with the voting held at the Putat Primary School, Jumat Akim won 282 votes, while the other candidate, Hj Hamzah Hj Sani, won 27 ballots out of 470 people who cast their votes.

Jumat graduated from the Teaching College and attended the Education Management course at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He was a Malay language teacher since 1976 and was the principal at Putat Primary School from 1998-2001. His last post was an officer at the Ministry of Education's Schools Department. (BPA1 & SHS1)