Kampong Sungai Teraban

Coordinates: 4°35′N 114°10′E / 4.583°N 114.167°E / 4.583; 114.167 Kampong Sungai Teraban is a village (kampong) in Brunei. It is located in the Belait district across the mouth of the Belait River^[1] from Kuala Belait and serves as a suburb of the latter. The current village has a population of 941.^[1]

Location

Kg. Sg. Teraban location in Mukim Belait

Kampong Sungai Teraban is located on the west bank of the mouth of the Belait River^[1] at 114.18ºE longtitude and 4.59ºN latitude. The village is bounded by the South China Sea to the north, the Belait River to the east, Rasau to the south with the villages of Kampong Sungai Tiga and the Malaysian border at Sungai Tujoh to the west.^[2]

Kampong Sungai Teraban is one of the kampongs in Mukim Kuala Belait.^[3] Due to its proximity to downtown Kuala Belait, which is immediately across the river from the village, it serves mainly as a residential suburb for the nearby town.

History

Kuala Belait was a small fishing village at the turn of the 20th century. The natives were Belait Malays who were mainly fishermen. According to local customs, there was a falling out between two groups of the inhabitants and one of those groups moved to the west bank of the mouth of the Belait River to found the current day Kampong Sungai Teraban. Kampong Sungai Teraban was initially known as Kampong Seberang, meaning in Malay 'the village on the opposite bank'. In the 1930s and 1940s, Chinese Hokkien immigrants from the Wee (one of whom was Wee Thian Boo, also known as Ng Tow Woo 1906-1994), Shim, Yeo, and Tan families lived in the village. Their descendants still live in the village today.

Kampong Sungai Teraban gain prominence in the latter half of the 20th century as a point en route to Miri in Sarawak, Malaysia. Oil from the Seria field was initially exported to Lutong in Miri via a pipeline running through the village. This was halted after the construction of the Seria Crude Oil Terminal.^[4] The pipeline has since been dismantled.

A ferry connected the village to Kuala Belait which was the only route for land vehicles to travel from Bandar Seri Begawan and other places east of the Belait River overland to Miri for much of the 20th century. The ferry is no longer in operation, due to its declined use since the opening of the Rasau bridge linking Kampong Sungai Duhon to Rasau.^[5] Since the 1990s, there have been many newcomers to the village.

Oil and gas

Kampong Sungai Teraban is located north of the onshore Rasau field. The main area for the field is located south of Kampong Sungai Teraban and most of the wells are located there.^[6]

The Sungai Teraban Valve Station (STVS) is located near the mouth of the Belait River. It supplies domestic gas and potable water to the village and to the Rasau facilies in the south.

Transportation

The main roads linking the ferry crossing towards the Malaysian border (11 kilometers)^[2] and towards Rasau bridge are surfaced. Not all the roads in the village are surfaced.

There is a scheduled bus service that runs through the village from the bus station in Kuala Belait to the immigration post at Sungai Tujoh (towards Miri).^[7]

A ferry used to connect Kampong Sungai Teraban to Kuala Belait town to the east.^[8] The ferry operated from 6am to 6pm and there was a charge of $3 one way for taking the ferry across the river. The ferry is no longer in service.

There are no airports in the village. Commercial travellers would have to travel to either Bandar Seri Begawan or Miri to catch a commercial flight.

Schools

Sekolah Rendah Sungai Teraban (or the Sungai Teraban Primary School in English) is only a small public (government) school in the village.^[9] The school also caters for Religious Afternoon Classes for the primary students. There are no secondary or tertiary education facilities in the village.^[10][11]

Notes