The city is administered by the Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Board within Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Department, a government department within the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Municipal Board was established in 1921, originally as a Sanitary Board ('''') which was, and is still, responsible for maintaining the cleanliness to the then Brunei Town. It achieved the status of '''' (municipality) in 1935 with the conversion of the Sanitary Board into the current Municipal Board (''''). Bandar Seri Begawan is de facto a city but it is officially a municipality, thus has the same status as the towns of Tutong, Kuala Belait and Seria.