Tutong (town)


Tutong is the town of the Bruneian district of Tutong. Officially known in Malay as Pekan Tutong, it is governed as a municipality and covers an area of about .

History

The area of what is now the municipality of Tutong dates back to 1929 when the Sanitary Board was established and the area under its jurisdiction was declared Sanitary Board Area. The main duty of the Board was monitoring cleanliness and development of the town. In 1970, the Board adopted its current name Lembaga Bandaran Tutong.

Governance

Local authority and town definition

oversees the municipal area of Tutong. It is a government department under the Ministry of Home Affairs and comprises Lembaga Bandaran or the Municipal Board. The head of the Board, thus the Department, is Pengerusi Lembaga Bandaran and the current Chairman is Azmi bin Abdul Rahim. The main responsibility of the Municipal Department is collecting revenue from taxation of building, commercial licence fees and rental of commercial lots in commercial centres owned by the Department.
The area under the municipality is about and comprises parts of Kampong Petani and Bukit Bendera. Kampong Petani and Bukit Bendera are village-level subdivisions, the third and lowest administrative divisions in the country, and administered under Tutong District Office, another department in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Petani and Bukit Bendera constitute parts of Pekan Tutong subdistrict.

Education

Education in Tutong is provided or regulated by the Ministry of Education. Thus, the students that study in any of the schools here undergoes the same education system as elsewhere in the country.
Muda Hashim Primary School is the sole government primary school. However, there are also three other non-government primary schools, namely Bakti Dewa School, Chung Hwa School and PERTAMA School. Chung Hwa School is one of the two Chinese schools in the district, the other one being at Kiudang.
There are three secondary schools in Tutong. Two of them, Muda Hashim Secondary School and Sufri Bolkiah Secondary School, are boys' and girls' schools respectively and they provide general secondary education which leads to O Level and IGSCE qualification. Another school, Ma'had Islam Brunei, provides secondary religious education which predominantly uses Arabic as the language of instruction. All of the schools are located at Bukit Bendera.
There is no sixth form centre in Tutong town. However, sixth form education is at Tutong Sixth Form Centre, which serves the whole of Tutong District. Tutong Sixth Form Centre is located at Bukit Beruang, some 12 kilometres from the town.
For vocational and higher education, students go to related institution outside the district.

Infrastructure

There are various facilities in the Tutong town as well as its vicinity for public use.
Kompleks Dewan Kemasyarakatan is the main venue for communal events. The Kompleks, together with the adjacent Padang, is also the venue for the annual Ramah Mesra, a meet-and-greet between His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and the residents of Tutong District. The event is usually held in July in conjunction with His Majesty's birthday celebration.
Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque is the sole mosque serving the Muslim residents of Tutong, as well as a few surrounding kampong, namely Kampong Panchor Dulit, Kampong Panchor Papan and Kampong Serambangun. It is also the main mosque of Tutong District.
Tutong Sports Complex offers facilities for conducting various types of sports, including football, athletics, swimming, tennis, badminton and basketball.
Kompleks Pasarneka dan Tamu Tutong is a wet market. It is located outside of the municipal area, that is in Kampong Serambangun, but it is managed by the Municipal Department.

Sister cities