Kuala Belait (Malay: Pekan Kuala Belait; Jawi: کوالا بلايت; abbrev: KB) is the administrative town of Belait District, Brunei.[3][4] The population of the town proper was 4,259 in 2016.[2] Kuala Belait is officially a municipal area (kawasan bandaran),[5] as well as a village under the mukim of the same name.[6] The town is located 85 kilometres (53 mi) west of the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan,[4] and 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Seria, the district's other town.[7] It is also in the westernmost part of country, near the mouth of the Belait River.[8]
History
In 1914, a 60 miles (97 km) road connecting Kuala Belait and Brunei Town was completed.[9] Kuala Belait was a small fishing village at the turn of the 20th century.[10] The natives were Belait Malays who were mainly fishermen.[11] There was a disagreement between the two groups of settlers which caused one of those groups to the relocated up to the west bank of the mouth of the Belait River.[11] The village is now known as Sungai Teraban.[11]
The Kuala Belait Sanitary Board was established in 1929, and this marked the transition of Kuala Belait from a village to a town.[12] In 1930, British Malayan Petroleum Company (BMPC) constructed a telephone line along the Belait coastline which linked up Seria and Rasau with their main headquarters in Kuala Belait.[13] A hospital was built by BMPC and completed in 1931,[12] followed by the first private English school being built that same year.[14] Telephone lines stretching from Kuala Belait to Tutong was dismantled in 1934 after failing to meet expectations.[15] By 1939, pipelines and roads between the town and Miri has been constructed.[16]
Due to the increase in profits from the oil industry in the 1950s and 1960s, rapid development was seen throughout Kuala Belait.[28] The first offshore gas field, South West Ampa,[29] was discovered 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) off Kuala Belait in 1963.[30] During the 1962 Brunei revolt, rebels of the TKNU managed to gain control of the town,[31] but was soon liberated by the 1/2nd BattalionGurkha Rifles Regiment.[32]Siege by the rebels against the town's police station were repelled by the local police force.[33] After independence from Britain in 1984, a number of new government buildings were constructed to house the local services of the Brunei government. In 1990s, the two-lane road along the coast leading from Muara to Kuala Belait was upgraded to 4-lane.[34]
Governance
1950s aerial view of Kuala Belait from the South, with the Belait River in the foreground.
The area of Kuala Belait comprises territorial division which can be informally grouped into three main areas: Pekan Kuala Belait or Kuala Belait Town, and Kampong Pandan and Mumong suburbs. The latter two areas are further divided into three and two kampongs or villages respectively. Pekan Kuala Belait is also officially a kampong-level administrative division. All of the villages constitute almost all of Mukim Kuala Belait, a subdistrict of Belait.[35]
The town of Kuala Belait is administered under Jabatan Bandaran Kuala Belait dan Seria (Kuala Belait and Seria Municipal Department), a government department under Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri (the Ministry of Home Affairs).[36] The department comprises Lembaga Bandaran or the Municipal Board, which is headed by Pengerusi Lembaga Bandaran (Chairman of the Municipal Board). The current chairman is Ridzuan Haji Ahmad.[37]
Overlapping territory
The area under the authority of the Municipal Department overlaps with that under Jabatan Daerah Belait or the Belait District Office. The municipal area consists of Pekan Kuala Belait, the whole of Kampong Pandan suburb, and parts of Mumong suburb. However, all of the kampongs are also under the governance of the Belait District Office, since they constitute the proper subdivisions of the district and subdistricts, and subsequently the headmen of the kampongs, known as ketua kampong (with the exception of Pekan Kuala Belait since there is none assigned), answers to the Pegawai Daerah or District Officer.
Economy
Marine Construction Yard in Sungai Duhon, 2022.
Oil and gas
Kuala Belait is located in the vicinity of the onshore Rasau gas field.[38] However Brunei Shell has various facilities in town to support the oil and gas production facilities in the vicinity.
The Kuala Belait Bunkering Station (KBBS) is located near the mouth of the Belait River.[39] It supplies domestic gas to the town and other bulk chemicals in support of the various activities.[39] The Kuala Belait Wharf is the main point from which personnel to and from the offshore platforms, off the Belait districts, embark and disembark.[39]
Marine
The Kuala Belait supply base is located to the south of the wharf, and is the main point for logistics for Shell.[40] The Marine Construction Yard (MCY) in Sungai Duhon, commonly known as SCO, is where construction of marine structures are carried out prior to installation offshore.[41]
Demography
Kampong Kuala Balai has historically served as the Belait population's hub. However, the population has scattered over the past 50 years, and now, Belait tribe members may be found in and around the town.[42] By 1938, Kuala Belait's population had increased to 5,000, and the BMPC was the city's major employer, with 1,185 out of 2,265 workers under its payroll.[43] 1,193 people were counted in Kuala Belait at the time of the 1931 census. It was reportedly 12,000 in 1948, due to the development around the district's oilfield.[44] The town has a sizable Chinese population,[45] and most Europeans are concentrated in Kuala Belait and Seria.[46]
Climate
The climate of Kuala Belait is tropical. The weather is warm, humid and rainy all year.[47]
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average High (°C)
31
31
32
33
33
33
33
33
32
32
32
32
-
Average Low (°C)
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
-
Average Rainfall (mm)
360
200
190
287
288
226
196
219
250
284
260
297
3045
Transportation
Road
Most of the roads within the municipality are surfaced. There are buses taking passengers to Miri from Kuala Belait.[4] The Kuala Belait Highway from the Malaysian border west of Sungai Tujuh, Kuala Belait links up with multiple other highways leading to Bandar Seri Begawan and Muara Town.[48]
It is possible to hire a water taxi at the public wharf close to the Kuala Belait market to go upriver towards Kuala Balai.[49] There are also trips organized by the Kuala Belait Boat Club to sail out in the open sea to various nearby destinations.[50] A timber jetty used to exist in Rasau in 1930.[51]
The Kuala Belait Port is one of the three ports of Brunei.[52] The part of the port near the mouth of the river is operated by Brunei Shell and public entry is restricted.[53] The commercial port of Kuala Belait is located to the south of the municipality in Kampong Sungai Duhon and its environs further upriver from the mouth.[54] Due to silting of the river mouth, the port can only take shallow draft vessels.[55] Two breakwaters have been constructed at the mouth of the Belait River to reduce silting of the river mouth.[56]
Secondary students opting for sixth form education study at Pusat Tingkatan Enam Belait. The sixth form students currently share facilities with the secondary students. However, the sixth form is expected to have its own stand-alone campus in the near future.
Alternatively, students opting for vocational education may proceed to study at one of the two post-secondary institution, namely: