As part of efforts by the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to ensure that sales of petroleum products, Premium 97, Super 92, regular 85 and Diesel, are continually controlled, the Energy Division of the Prime Minister’s Office announces several steps that will be implemented effective from the first of next month.
 

For every purchase where gasoline or diesel is filled directly into a vehicle’s fuel tank, the amount is to be limited to one full tank and to not exceed 250 litres. For purchase of gasoline or diesel filled into a container, a container approved by the Brunei Shell Marketing must be used and the amount should not exceed 100 liters.
 

Purchases are limited to Brunei Darussalam’s Identity Card holders only. Bulk purchase of gasoline or diesel using drums or tanks above 100 litres are also limited to local registered company.

For every purchase of diesel at riverine stations by locally registered vessels, a maximum of 1000 litres would applied. Purchases are again limited to Brunei Darussalam’s Identity Card holders. Purchase of diesel by foreign registered vessels and vessels used in the shipping or ferry business should be made at the BSM commercial bunkering activities.
 

The mentioned steps will be reviewed from time to time. Enquiries on the moves can be made through telephones 2387109 and 2387110 or website addresses www.up.gov.bn and www.petroleum-unit.gov.bn

In explaining the move, the Minister of Energy, Pehin Dato Seri Paduka Haji Yahya said the directives were part of the continuing efforts of the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to ensure, these products, particularly diesel were continually controlled.
 

Pehin explained this during an exclusive interview with the acting Deputy Director of RTB, Haji Johari Achee. The Minister said petroleum products such as diesel, premium 97, super 92 and regular 85 are controlled-items. He also said that directives with regards to these items are already in place but had not been implemented.
 

According to Pehin, observation revealed that recently, there was a sudden increase from last year in sales of these products, particularly diesel. For a few petrol stations close to the borders, the volume sold jump to as high as 63% and that between 25 to 30% of the customers were from outside the country.
 

Pehin further said the amount of subsidy extended by the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam had also increased to 178-million Brunei dollars, an increase of 144% from last year which was at 73-million Brunei dollars.
 

The Minister further stated that there were also price differentials in pump price of these products in Brunei Darussalam to that of normal market price, which cause the products to be smuggled out of the country.
 

Pehin further clarified that these directives would not jeopardize the activity of the people in Brunei Darussalam as the allowable quantities were above normal requirements. He hoped that the consumption levels would be brought to a level which was appropriate taking into account normal growth in demand. The Minister of Energy assured that the country-wide stock of these products are more than sufficient and thus are not cause for concern or panic.

The Royal Brunei Police force which will celebrate its 85th anniversary on 1st January, aims to enhance its cooperative network with Canada and the United Kingdom as part of its future planning.
 

The force which is a member of Aseanapol and Interpol has already close ties with other police forces both regionally and internationally. It further strengthened its bilateral relations recently with Hong Kong and Tunisia. This was stated by the Deputy Director of Crime Investigation of the Royal Brunei Police Force in an interview with Newscentre Wednesday.

Assistant Commissioner Police, Hajjah Sharifah Salmah Binti Dato Syed Hussain Alkaff said, as a mature police organisation, the Royal Brunei Police force’s record in crime solving continues to improve. She said that over the past years, the force has a good crime solving record and the increasing number of criminal cases solved has led to a decrease in crimes.
 

Inconjunction with the upcoming celebration, several events such as sports, religious and welfare activities will be organise. This year, the Royal Brunei Police force will also held a forum to discuss on this year’s celebration theme entitled ‘‘Perkhidmatan Cemerlang Demi Masyarakat’’ or Excellent Service for Community’’.

The Ministry of Education has released the results of the Religious Primary Six Class Examination and the Brunei Religious High Education Examination 2005. Of the 4,766 candidates, 3,831 have passed or 80.35 percent.
 

1,977 of them or 41.48 percent obtained grade one, 884 or 18.55 percent got grade two and 970 or 20.35 percent, obtained grade three. School candidates from the Tutong District achieved an excellent result with 88.05 percent passes.
 

Of the 154 candidates who sat for the Religious High Education Examination, 143 or 92.9 percent have passed. This year’s achievement is at par with last year’s results. Of the total passes, 30 candidates or 19.5 percent obtained the mumtaz grade, 28 students or 18.2 percent got the jayyid jiddan grade and 60 others obtained the jayyid grade.
 

Students who sat for the examination can get their result slips from their respective schools while private candidates may collect them at the Department of Examination.

The current persisting high tide, rough sea and unsettled weather condition at sea have affected the fishing activities in the country. This can be seen as less fisherman went to the sea and their vessels were docked.
 

Fish Landing Complex in Muara were deserted with fishing vessels dock motionless at the complex. According to some fishermen there have not gone fishing since early of this month due to strong wind and rough sea condition.
 

There also received the warning from the Fisheries Department that reminds to take extra precaution during this unsettled weather condition. The number of customers visiting the complex have also decrease.
 

One of the fisherman, Awang Armin bin Zubir said fishing activities will be put on hold every December due to the persisting weather condition at sea. This will continues until March.
 

Similar scene is also seen at the wet market in Muara with majority of fish stalls empty. The rough sea condition is dangerous to small boats, thus the supply of fresh fish have also been affected.

The current rough sea condition is not only the fishing industry but also marine transportation. According to the Marine Department, there are several occasions where some vessels in this case, a ferry transporting passengers between Brunei and Labuan were retimed or cancelled.
 

Towards the end of the year, the ferry terminal in Serasa receives such a huge number of passengers compared to other months. During the peak season, the number can reaches up to 200 passengers per ferry.
 

This is the time where all the agencies involved are busy, starting with checking permits of imported goods where most bearers of permits came as early as six in the morning.
 

During this month, there was one occasion where the vessel from Labuan were forced to turned back on its way to Brunei, due to the wavy sea condition. The rough sea condition is expected to continue until early next year.

Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out by the Diving Unit of the Fire Services and Jerudong Police to locate a teenager who went missing while swimming at sea Wednesday afternoon.
 

The 15 year old boy from Kampong Panca Delima was reported missing while swimming in Tungku beach this afternoon. The diving unit of Fire Services recieved the emergency call at 4.48 Wednesday afternoon. During the incident, the young boy was having a picnic with his family.
 

In view of the current rough sea conditions coupled with rain and strong wind, members of the public are being advise to refrain from swimming on beaches.