Brunei: Housing Applications Made Easier Online

Citizens and residents of Brunei Darussalam can now have a faster and easier way to apply for housing through the Ministry of Development's online housing application on its e-Sikap web site that was officially launched yesterday by the Deputy Minister of Development.

By simply typing in www.perumahan.gov.bn an application form is presented whereby all the applicant has to do is fill in the necessary information and submit the application back to the Housing Development Department. "E-Sikap is supposed to provide convenience to the applicants," said Awg Marzuke bin Hj Mohsin, Director of the Housing Development Department, in an interview with the Borneo Bulletin. Asked whether the new web site was meant to reduce waiting time and improve efficiency for housing applications, the director replied: "Otherwise, they would have to come to our office to get forms and submit their applications. Hopefully, in the long run, it may also reduce processing time although presently it will not reduce the waiting time. "We believe more people are able to get access to the Internet now so it is not only meant for the younger generation," when asked if the online format was more geared towards the e-generation rather than mature citizens. But would this new system reduce the waiting time for housing applications? The director said: "The waiting period to be allocated housing is effectively addressed by increasing our housing production where we are aiming around 12,000 houses by the year 2012." On the issue of whether this new process could take off taking into account the fact that the government's e-Government projects were not yet fully online, Awg Marzuke said, "Yes, e-Government is not taking off as fast as the government wishes to but it's more of a paradigm shift from the old system to the Internet/ICT-based system."

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