BY Lyna Mohamad

A soft opening for the new deluxe block of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) female hostel was held on Wednesday, following a handover signing between UBD Corp Sdn Bhd and SEC Mashibah Sdn Bhd.

UBD Corp General Manager Mohd Iswandi Maaruf and SEC Mashibah Managing Director Tan Tow Chik inked the deal, with UBD Vice-Chancellor cum guest of honour Dr Hazri bin Haji Kifle as witness.

Since August 1, 2011, UBD Corp has managed the student accommodation at The Core Residential College, which is a high-rise service apartment designed for the convenience of both local and international students. It also looks after The Core’s retail area comprising facilities, shop lots and event spaces.

Its responsibilities grew after it took on the 1,199 room Mahasiswa and Mahasiswi Residential College. This breaks down to 440 Core residential college individual rooms, 244 male residential college individual rooms, 470 female residential college individual rooms, 14 family units for the M4 family quarters, 19 family units for the visitor lounge quarter (VLQ), eight family units for Iber, and four family units for the executive house.

UBD Corp adds another feather to its cap with the introduction of the newly refurbished hostel residential college blocks this year, rolling out more deluxe style accommodations.

These blocks feature a modern fusion of past, present and future, with the team keeping creativity, innovation and comfort in mind during the design phase. This ensures the hostel is more of a home ‘with a touch of heart’.

The refurbished male and female hostel blocks each consist 69 rooms. The refurbishment project was initially scheduled to start in October last year, however, the pandemic dealt a two-month delay. Management was able to operate at the start of the new academic year 2022/2023.

Facilities on the ground floor include a prayer room, eight standard rooms, two deluxe plus rooms, one deluxe suite, a kitchen, a toilet for special needs individuals and a common toilet.

The first floor houses 28 standard room, prayer room, common room, kitchen, balcony and a toilet, while the second floor accommodates 30 standard rooms, a common room, kitchen and toilet.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin