Seria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seria is a town in the Belait District of Brunei Darussalam. Its full name is Pekan Seria in full (Pekan is the Malay word for "Town"). Seria was originally known as Padang Berawa which is Wild Pidgeon's Field in Malay. The name "Seria" comes from the river located very near where oil was first discovered in the area in 1929. Official correspondence by the people that made the oil discovery stated that it was found in "Seria", and thus the name of the area became known as "Seria".
Contents |
[edit] Location
Seria is located in the Belait District, in the mukim of the same name. The municipal town center is set in grid that is bounded by Jalan Tengah and the Seria Arena to the north, Jalan Lorong Satu Barat to the east, Jalan Bolkiah to the south and Jalan Lorong Tiga Barat to the west. It has an area of 0.603 km²[1]
For the purpose of this article, the suburbs of Panaga (or Kampong Panaga to the west of Seria Town) and Kampong Baru (to the east), the Anduki area (further west of Kampong Baru), as well as the Housing scheme area adjacent to Jalan Lorong Tiga Barat (to the south-west) is included. Badas, which is also in Mukim Seria is not included in this article.
The administrative capital of the Belait district, Kuala Belait is located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) to the west and is linked to Seria by both road. Mukim Labi, also in the Belait district is located to the east of Seria and the national capital of Bandar Seri Begawan is about 100km to the north-east.
[edit] History
The first commercial oil well [2]was spudded in 1929 in Padang Berawa on the west bank of the Seria river[3].
Seria area was gazetted as municipal area in 1936. The town came under the authority of the Kuala Belait Sanitary Board[4] which also had responsibility for the municipal area of Kuala Belait.
Seria was occupied by the Japanese during World War 2. During the closing days of World War 2, the Japanese fired the wells in Seria. It would be almost 10 years later when the wells would produce oil for export.
Seria was also one of the centres of a small rebellion against the monarchy during the 1960s, which was suppressed by the United Kingdom. This event became known as the Brunei Revolt.
Under the rule of His Majesty the late Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin, the town blossomed as commercial buildings such as the current shophouses along Jalan Sultan Omar Ali.
[edit] Kampongs
Unlike the other municipal, areas in the country, Pekan Seria is not divided into Kampongs. However the neighbouring kampongs serve as suburbs to Seria.
Panaga or Kampong Panaga is located between the towns of Kuala Belait and Seria. This large area can be further subdivided into the following areas:
- Jalan Utara. This is home to a large number of expatriates due to a large concentration of Brunei Shell housing and facilities located in the area. The head offices of Brunei Shell Petroleum is found in this area as well as the well-known clubs Panaga Club and Brunei Shell Recreation Club.
- The Canadian Houses area along Jalan Tengah. This area consist of Shell housing facilities built in the style of Canadian log houses. The timber used to construct these houses were imported from Canada.
- The area around the Panaga Police Station and Sekolah Rendah Panaga (Panaga Primary School). This area is predominately Malay and more commonly associated with the term "Kampong Panaga".
- North and West of Seria. These are the areas between Panaga proper and the municipality of Seria. It contains a number of British Army and Brunei Shell facilities and housing for both the British Army and Brunei Shell employees.
Kampong Baru is located to the east of Seria on the left banks of Sungai Bera. This is a mainly Chinese and Iban area. The old wooden railway, built by the Japanese to Badas, runs through Kampong Baru.
Kampong Lorong Tiga Barat is a new village constructed by the governement as part of the Landless housing scheme. It is located south of the Seria municipal area towards the Seria Bypass.
Sungai Bera is an industrial area to the north of Kampong Baru and the north-east of Seria municipal area. It contains the only oil refinery in Brunei.
Anduki is a sparsely populated area between Seria and Lumut. It contains the Anduki airfield and the Anduki recreation area.
[edit] Oil and Gas
Seria is the heart of the oil industry in Brunei, and also the site of the first commercial onshore oilfield discovered in Brunei. The town sits atop the Seria Field, which was discovered in 1929 and has been continuously in production since then with the exception of about 10 years after the Second World War. There are numerous nodding donkeys in and around the town and this has become the unofficial symbol of the town.
The Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) Company Limited is headquartered in Panaga and has various facilities related to the oil and gas industry in Seria. The Seria Refinery is the only refinery in Brunei and is located in the Sungai Bera area together with the Seria Crude Oil Terminal(SCOT), the New Gas Compression Plant(NGCP) and the New Industrial Area(NIA). The open-air oily water treatment facility at the Sungai Bera Holding Basin has since been discontinued due to environmental reasons.
[edit] Tourist Attractions
- Pekan Seria Mosque - the first mosque in Brunei to have a dome in its architectural design
- The Oil and Gas Discovery Centre (OGDC) - an interactive museum run by Brunei Shell Petroleum
- The Billionth Barrel Monument - commerating the billionth barrel of crude oil procuded from the Seria Field.
- The roundabout at the intersection of Jalan Maulana and Jalan Tengah. There is a model nodding Donkey located at the centre of this roundabout.
- The roundabout at the intersection of Jalan Maulana and Jalan Utara. A statue representing Freedom is located at the centre of this roundabout.
[edit] Sports and Recreation
Public recreational activities in Seria are mostly limited to the country clubs (Panaga Club and the Brunei Shell Recreation Club). There is a 18-hole golf course in Panaga Club and an Equestrian area in the Brunei Shell Recreation Club.
The British Army maintains its own recreational activities within the British Garrison. This area is not open to the public.
There is presently only one operational cinema located in Seria which is run by Brunei Shell Petroleum. This is located at the Oil and Gas Discovery Centre.
Fishing and Windsurfing is carried out at Jubilee Recreation Park (Taman Recreasi Jubli in Malay) in Anduki. This area was named in honour of the 25th (Silver Jubilee) anniversary of the ascention to the throne of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Road
Most of the roads within the municipality are surfaced. However not all the roads are level to encourage effective drainage during a downpour. The main commercial street in the municipality is Jalan Sultan Omai Ali and shops and other commercial buildings can also be found in the vicinity.
Seria is connected by roads west through Panaga towards Mumong and Kuala Belait, east through Sungai Bera and Anduki to Lumut, Labi and Bandar Seri Begawan and south besides the Housing Scheme area towards the Seria Bypass.
The main highway from the Malaysian border west of Kuala Belait to Muara Town passes south of the municipality. This section is known as the Seria Bypass.
The taxi stand and bus depot is located at the south-east quarter of the intersection between Jalan Sultan Omar Ali and Jalan Bunga Pinang. Taxis fares start from B$3.00. Tourists are advised to negotiate the price for the trip before hiring the taxis. There are three scheduled bus services from the bus station, these are:
- a regular shuttle towards Kuala Belait - thrice hourly except lunch and at night
- hourly to Bandar Seri Begawan - the last bus departs at about 3:10pm
- an intermittent service to Sungai Liang
(These are correct as of March 2007)
[edit] Rail
There are no working railways or light rail in Seria. The remnants of a wooden railway from Badas to Seria that is built by the Japanese during World War 2 is still visible in some areas.
[edit] Ferry and River, Ports
There are no Ferry services, river services or port services in Seria. The nearest port is in Kuala Belait, and the nearest deepwater port in Brunei is Muara Port.
[edit] Air
There are no airports in Seria. However, there is an airfield in Anduki that caters mainly for flights to offshore Brunei Shell Facilities. Commercial travellers would have to travel to either Bandar Seri Begawan or Miri to catch a commercial flight. There are also a number of helipads around Seria town, including one at Panaga Hospital.
[edit] Schools
Schools in Seria include:
- Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah Religious School (Public Islamic Religious School)
- Anthony Abell College (Public)
- Sultan Bolkiah Vocational School (Public)
- Pengiran Setia Negara Pengiran Mohd Yusof Primary School (Public)
- Chung Ching Middle School (Private - Chinese)
- St. Angela's Mission School (Private - Catholic former All-Girls School, but is now a boys and girls school since the merging with St Micheal's)
- St. Margaret's Mission School (Private - Anglican)
- Panaga School
- Sekolah Rendah Panaga (Public)
St. Michael's Mission School was the first English school in the country. It was a Private Catholic All-Boys School. Due to declining numbers, it was closed down in late 2006 and its student body was merged with the formerly all-girls catholic school St Angela's.
[edit] Notable People from Seria
The following well-known Bruneian personalities had parts of their schooling in Seria:
- Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Paduka Awang Lim Jock Seng, Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei
- Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Retired) Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, Deputy Minister of Defence of Brunei
- Craig Adams of the Carolina Hurricanes
The former Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Education, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr Haji Sulaiman Haji Daud, who hailed from Sarawak, used to work as a dentist in the Government clinic in Seria, before entering the political scene in his own country.
