ACTING Director of Mosque Affairs, Ministry of Religious Affairs, lauded the management of Mosque Building Fund in Temburong mosques for their compliance with the fund’s set regulation. The fund was launched June this year as a way for members of the public to help in building new mosques, repair and upgrade mosque buildings and their facilities. The fund however is not intended to take over the government’s role in the matter of building and managing mosques. Hj Abd Rajid Hj Mohd Salleh spoke with mosque affairs officers, Imam and mosque committee members at the Masjid Utama Muhammad Salleh.
“All the mosques in the district have been sending their financial statements according to the regulation, regardless of the amount,” he said. The briefing, a continuation from briefings held in Tutong and Brunei Muara districts, was to ensure that all mosque officials across the country are properly informed of the Mosque Building Fund.
The briefings elaborated on the mechanisms for collecting, requirements and procedures involved in its implementation. Last month Hj Abd Rajid said several mosques across the country have yet to submit financial statement of their collection specifically for the Mosque Building Fund. Hj Abd Rajid stressed the importance for mosque officials to execute their responsibilities. He reminded those in attendance to always keep the financial statements updated.
“We must stressed that the rules outlined need to be adhered to so that the expectations of society on mosques are at a very good level,” he said adding that by following the regulation set, it will ensure that the Mosque Building Fund will be managed systematically.
The Mosque Affairs Department has been tasked as the fund’s secretariat in the first phase of the fund launching. In the second phase of the launching (which has yet to be announced), a board of trustees will be formed to replace the temporary committee which has been set up to manage the collection and use of funds. Twenty four donation boxes had been provided in selected mosques nationwide to facilitate the public if they wish to contribute to the Mosque Building Fund. Donation boxes at mosques are one of the seven ways for the public to contribute to the Mosque Building Fund. Other methods include standing order instruction (from donor’s accounts to the fund’s bank account), direct walk-in contributions to the fund’s bank account, direct submissions to the Mosque Affairs Department, pledge statements, SMS services and coupon purchases. Special bank accounts have been set up at Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei (TAIB) and Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) after obtaining permission from the Brunei Islamic Religious Council (MUIB) to ensure that all public donations will be centralised in these two bank accounts. These boxes are marked with the Mosque Building Fund logo.
The department plans to distribute more boxes for the fund to mosques in the coming months. The event was also held for Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebration with the staff of Mosque Affairs Department staff in Temburong.