Rokiah Mahmud
The Monthly Welfare Assistance (BKB) Guideline has been updated with mandatory requirements for applicants who are able-bodied and able-to-work assistance recipients to register at JobCentre Brunei (JCB), said Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Nazmi bin Haji Mohamad.
He said it is an initiative under the Action Plan for the Eradication of Poverty to ensure the assistance recipients obtain employment and are economically independent.
The minister said so during the 19th Legislative Council session on Wednesday.
He said it is the ministry’s strategy to develop a progressive society towards an united, resilient, caring and excellent community.
He added that the key performance indicator (KPI) target for these initiatives is to assist around 500 underprivileged individuals in securing employment – 200 through the Community Development Department (JAPEM) and 300 through the Manpower Planning and Employment Council (MPEC).
Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Nazmi said 1,262 able-bodied and able-to-work assistance recipients registered with the JCB in 2022, up from 355 in 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of able-bodied and able-to-work assistance recipients that obtained employment was 123 people in 2020, 157 in 2021, 145 in 2022 and 150 as of February this year.
The minister added that under the same strategy, able-bodied and able-to-work assistance recipients are being given capacity-building opportunities through skills and entrepreneurship training under a community programmes.
The programmes, the minister added, are implemented in an integrated collaboration with other stakeholders, particularly the JAPEM through skills training and entrepreneurship programme designed for assistance recipients under the Brunei Islamic Religious Council (MUIB) through Asnaf Zakat Empowerment Programme (PROPAZ), Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, through its Entrepreneurship Assistance, and Darussalam Enterprise (DARe), through its Micro Business Bootcamp.
