Since 1953
CONNECT WITH US
www.borneobulletin.com.bnTHE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM, SABAH AND SARAWAK
B$1.00 | RM3.50
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
VOL.25 | NO.032
LIFESTYLE
16
Heritage tourism with ishing huts
FEATURES
20
Marginal decline in life expectancy
WORLD
25
Australian state reports record
virus increase
HOME
6
ASEAN, China trade ties gather
strength
Number of cases
Number of deaths
Recovered cases
Brunei Darussalam
COVID-19 STATISTICS
As of 5 August 2020
141
3
138
Muslims performing Friday prayers at
mosques, suraus and religious halls can now
put their prayer mats close to each other
starting tomorrow.
Previously, prayer mats had to be placed
one metre apart to observe social distancing
during COVID19 pandemic.
Children aged 12 and above are also
allowed to join the Friday prayers and
Children aged 12 and above
can attend Friday prayers
Azlan Othman
DatastreamDigital Sdn Bhd (DST) is expanding
its digital transformation and innovation
across Brunei Darussalam as well as tapping
into oversea markets by working with
Philippine tech giant Multisys Technologies
Corporation (Multisys) following a partnership
agreement signing ceremony held via a
virtual platform.
The virtual signing ceremony was oficiated
by DST Chief Executive Oficer Radin Sufri bin
Radin Basiuni and Multisys Chief Executive
Oficer David Almirol Jr and witnessed by
guest of honour DST Chairman Haji Soian bin
Haji Mohammad Jani.
Continue to Page 3
DST joins hands with Philippine tech giant
James Kon
DST Chief Executive Of icer Radin Sufri bin Radin Basiuni holds the signed agreement while DST
Chairman Haji So ian bin Haji Mohammad Jani and DST Associate Vice-President Freddie Ting
Lik Wei look on. PHOTO: JAMES KON
Heavy rain and strong wind hit the nation
at around 3pm yesterday, uprooting trees
and causing lash loods at low-lying and
lood prone areas.
The Brunei Darussalam Meterological
Department in its weather warning
yesterday said wind gusts of up to 45km
per hour was expected and issued a yellow
stage warning alert.
In view of current uncertain weather
condition, the public is advised to be alert
and take precautions to ensure safety.
In its statement posted in the social me-
dia around noon on Tuesday, the depart-
ment said Brunei is still in the Southwest
Monsoon season. At 1am, typhoon
Hagupit
made windfall in Wenzhou, China but the
typhoon is not affecting Brunei.
The Public Works Department (JKR)
called on Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien
Bridge users to take extra precautions
during heavy rain and strong wind.
Continue to Page 3
Storm uproots
trees, rain
causes floods
Azlan Othman
BEIRUT (AFP) - Rescuers searched for sur-
vivors in Beirut yesterday after a cata-
clysmic explosion at the port sowed dev-
astation across entire neighbourhoods,
killing more than 100 people, wounding
thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper
into crisis.
The blast, which appeared to have been
caused by a ire igniting 2,750 tonnes of
ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a
warehouse, was felt as far away as Cyprus,
some 240 kilometres to the northwest.
The governor of Beirut Marwan Abboud
described the disaster as “an apocalyptic
s i t u a t i on” a s i t m i gh t h ave ma de
300,000 people temporarily homeless
and would cost the country in excess of
USD3 billion.
The scale of the destruction was such that
the Lebanese capital resembled the scene of
an earthquake, with thousands of people left
homeless and thousands more cramming into
overwhelmed hospitals for treatment.
“A massacre. I saw people screaming,
covered in blood, homes broken, glass
shattered, roads that look like Hiroshima or
like a tsunami hit,” Elie Zakaria, a resident of a
neighbourhood close to the port, told
AFP
.
In those areas, the amount of destruction
caused by the long years of civil war between
1975 and 1990 was achieved in a second by a
blast that levelled buildings within a radius of
several hundred metres.
A resident of Mar Mikhail, one of the most
affected neighbourhoods, said she saw bodies
strewn in the middle of the street, apparently
thrown off balconies and rooftops by
the blast.
Many people were watching and ilming
with their phones after an earlier and smaller
explosion was heard in the port and ignited
a ire.
The resulting footage, which was widely
shared on social media, shows a ball of ire
and smoke rising above Beirut and a white
shockwave enguling everything around it.
The mushroom-shaped explosion - which
seismologists saidwas loggedas theequivalent
of a 3.3 magnitude quake - and the scope of
the damage drew nuclear analogies in many
people’s accounts of the tragedy.
‘The Apocalypse’ read the headline of
L’Orient-Le Jour,
the main French-language
daily in Lebanon, a country that has seen its
share of explosions in its recent past, but none
quite this big.
Continue to Page 2
Beirut reels frommonster
blast, deaths top 100
congregants don’t have to book slots
through BruHealth app. Women and
children below 12 are still not allowed to join
Friday prayers.
This was highlighted by Head of Idarah
Division at the Mosque Affairs Department
of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA)
Haji Asminan bin Haji Chuchu at Omar ‘Ali
Saifuddien Mosque yesterday.
Haji Asminan urged congregants and
the public to adhere to the guidelines
stipulated by Mosque Affairs Department
when inside the mosques, suraus and
religious halls.
Congregants are still required to scan
BruHealth QR code and only those with green
and yellow codes are allowed to perform
Friday and ive daily prayers.
Congregants are also urged to wear face
masks, perform ablution at home, bring their
prayer mats, have their body temperature
checked and to use hand sanitiser.
Continue to Page 3