Poor family of five receive new house

A FAMILY of five will soon have a home to call their own and will no longer need to depend on other family members for shelter following the approval of their house grant of $29,000 for the construction of their new house at Kg Jerudong.

The recipients of the grant, Bintang Sabtu, 38, and her husband Azmi Nassar yesterday took part in the foundation laying ceremony of their new home by pouring in cement to signify the start of the construction.

Present to initiate the foundation laying was Brunei-Muara District Officer Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yusof Bakar, followed by representatives from the Brunei Islamic Religious Council (Muib), the Department of Community Development (Japem) and Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (YSHHB).

Out of the $29,000 granted to the recipients, $15,000 was donated by Muib, $5,000 from Japem, $5,000 from YSHHB and the remaining $4,000 was given by the Brunei-Muara District Office from its charity fund.

Bintang and Azmi are both unemployed and have been unlucky in securing employment. They are receiving a monthly aid of $1,800 for one year only from Muib since last June.

The family gets by only when Azmi has the opportunity to take up offers of odd jobs as a car mechanic.

"If the opportunity for fixing cars surfaces, my husband will take it. That's the only source of income we get for the family," said Bintang, adding that they have three children to fend for.

She applied for the house grant in 2008 and was glad when her application was answered. "I am thankful that the Brunei-Muara District Office and other agencies involved granted us the opportunity to own a house of our own," she said.

"Bintang's application for a house was granted because she and her family fell under the category of asnaf fakir miskin (poor and destitute category)," said an officer from Muib who declined to be named.

People under the asnaf fakir miskin category are rightful recipients of zakat (tithe) because they do not own or possess any means of income or property and even if they did, it is not enough to provide for them and their family's basic needs, he said.

The new house, expected to be completed in a month, will be a bungalow consisting of two rooms, a living room, a kitchen and a toilet.

The site for the new house is located next to the family's old home, which was deemed unsafe because of its dilapidating condition.The Brunei Times