Muara, Brunei

Muara comes from the Malay word for 'estuary'.[4]

Muara can be found in Mukim Serasa[5] and is located on the easternmost tip of West Brunei. It lends its name to the district which it is in, the Brunei-Muara district. To the north is the South China Sea, to the south is the Brunei Bay, and across the bay is Pulau Muara Besar. To the east, across a man-made channel, are the remains of Tanjung Pelumpong (Cape Pelumpong, now an island). The rest of the Brunei-Muara district is situated on the west side. Serasa lies to the south-west of Muara.

For the purpose of this article, the term 'Muara' refers to the area from Kampong Sabun to the channel at Tanjung Pelumpong north of Serasa.

Before the 1900s, the village of Muara was inhabited by a small group of Malay fishermen.[6]

Rapid development was seen in the area of Serai Pumping in 1883 to extract coal, which was used to fuel passing steamships; later, under the government of Sarawak, the area around the settlement was developed and was named Brooketon, after Charles Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak, in 1889.

The development of the Brooketon Colliery coal mine also led to transport and infrastructure development in Muara. A wooden railway was built to transport the coal to the deep-water anchorage at Muara, and wharves and jetties were built to allow steamships and barges to berth.[6] By 1911, more than 1,447 people lived in Muara and some 30 shops had opened in the town.[6] Brooketon was also where the first postage stamp in Brunei was issued.[7]

Although he only had economic privileges, Brooke became the de facto political ruler of the area. The coal mines employed hundreds of miners, which compelled Brooke to introduce a police force, a post office, and roads, effectively transforming Muara into an extraterritorial extension of Sarawak. It was not until 1921 that Muara was "returned" to Brunei.[6] The mine closed in 1924 because of heavy financial losses caused by the continuously decreasing price of coal during the world economic recession.[8]

The Japanese occupied Brunei during Second World War and attempted unsuccessfully to reopen the coal mine.[6] Brooketon was the landing location of the Australian forces as part of the Borneo Campaign (1945), at the end of the Second World War, which liberated Brunei from Japanese occupation.[9]

Under the rule of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin, the area was developed into a deepwater port to assist in the development of the country. Since 1973, Muara Port has undergone extensive improvements. These include extensions to the wharf, bringing its total length to 948 meters (including 250 meters dedicated container wharf and 87 metres aggregate wharf). The overall covered storage capacity is 16,950 square meters. The site also features long storage warehouses with a combined capacity of 16,630 square meters and open storage space of 5 hectares. Facilities for the dedicated container wharf cover an area of 92,034 square meters, including 8,034 square metres of covered areas.[10]

Part of the deepwater port of Muara is occupied by two Royal Dutch Shell petroleum facilities.

Brunei Shell Marketing maintains a large presence in Muara through its Muara Terminal.[11] There are numerous bottled gas containers on the site and a number of tanks holding various products, including bitumen.

Brunei Shell Petroleum has a jetty along Muara Port to support their offshore operations in Brunei.[12] The jetty measures 120 metres by 48 metres and equipped with three loading facilities and 14 storage tanks.

The main tourist attraction of Muara is Muara beach (Pantai Muara in Malay), which stretches along the coast of the South China Sea.[13] The beach is about a mile long and consists of clear white sand. Amenities here include a picnic area, a children's playground, changing and toilet facilities, as well as weekend food and drink stalls.

The Royal Brunei Navy of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces is based in the Muara Naval Base, which is located in the Tanjong Pelumpong area of Muara.[14] The Naval Base was expanded in 1997 to include facilities to support three offshore support vessels.[15]

• Muara Gallery
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  Muara Port
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  A berth at Muara Port
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  Muara Beach
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  Recreational park at Muara Beach
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  Muara Naval Base
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  A road in Muara
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  People's Liberation Army Navy ship Qi Ji Guang's (Hull-83) goodwill visit to Muara Port on September 29, 2019.