Unpaid bills

I was shocked to learn that the arrears of bills from the public and private sector amounted to B$486.5 million as of 31 March 2010. This was revealed by the Minister of Finance (II) at the Prime Minister's Office, His Honourable Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim.

Quoting from the Special Edition of LegCo meeting (Laporan Khas sempena Persidangan Majlis Mesyuarat Negara 2011), Pelita Brunei, 5 March 2010, page XII, His Honourable Minister of Finance (II) at Prime Minister's Office says:

"...Sehingga 31 Mac 2010 jumlah keseluruhan tunggakan orang ramai dan sektor swasta kepada kerajaan adalah berjumlah kira-kira BND486.5 juta yang mana antara lainnya termasuk Elektrik BND163 juta; Air BND67 juta' House Assesment BND40 juta; Telefon sebelum TelBru diperbadankan BND66 juta; Kemajuan Perumahan BND20.5 juta; Tanah BND7 juta; Badan Kemajuan Industri Brunei BND8juta dan lain-lain lagi. Bayangkanlah apa yang boleh dilaksanakan oleh kerajaan jika tunggakan BND486.5 juta tersebut dijelaskan sepenuhnya. Jumlah ini boleh saja menampung pembinaan kira-kira 4000 buah rumah; atau 50 buah Pusat-Pusat Kesihatan; atau 23 buah Sekolah Menengah; ataupun 100 buah Sekolah Rendah; atau 250 kilometer (km) lebuh raya dan lain-lain lagi."

The unpaid bills include:

Electric bills - B$163 million

Water bills - B$67 million

Telephone bill (before TelBru) - B$66 million

House Assessment - B$40 million

Housing Development - B$20.5 million

BINA - B$8 million

Land tax - B$7 million

and so on...

These revenues were enough to build approximately 4,000 houses; or 50 Health centres; or 23 secondary schools; or 100 primary schools; or 250km of highway.

From Islamic point of view, it is not advisable to ignore these debts, as the utility we use will be not "Halal". Imagine we are performing ablution (ambil wudhu) with the unpaid water charges. Therefore, it is hoped that these debts could be cleared as soon as possible, for the sake of our future.