Native name: Pulau Berambang Nickname: Buang Tawer | |
---|---|
Location in Brunei | |
Geography | |
Location | Brunei Bay |
Coordinates | 4°51′31″N 114°58′53″E / 4.8586390°N 114.9813499°E |
Administration | |
Brunei | |
District | Brunei-Muara |
Mukim | Kota Batu |
Demographics | |
Population | 1,530 (2016) |
Berambang Island (Malay: Pulau Berambang) is an island at the southern bank of the Brunei River in the Mukim Kota Batu, Brunei-Muara District, Brunei.[1][2] The island was formerly named Buang Tawer during The Brooke Era from 1841 until 1941.[3] The mausoleum of the 9th Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Muhammad Hassan is located on the island, near Kampong Sungai Bunga.[4]
A proposal for an 1,939 hectares (4,790 acres) protection status to be implemented on the island.[5] The island is home to proboscis monkeys, birds, secondary forests and swamp forests.[5]
Berambang, Baru-Baru and Berbunut are the three islands which are located in close proximity of Bandar Seri Begawan.[6] Cermin Island sits at an estimated distance of 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north of Kampong Sungai Bunga.[7] Cape Kindana (Tanjong Kindana) is located at the most north eastern end of the island.[8] It is also the longest island in Brunei Bay and the biggest in the Brunei River.[9][10]
During Sultan Hassan's reign from 1582 until 1598, he was the architect of the bridge linking from Tanjong Kindana or also known as Tanjong Chendana, to Cermin Island.[11][12] It can be noted that after the death of Sultan Hassan in 1598, he was buried near Sungai Bunga in Cape Kindana.[10]
In 1903, a Charles Brooke's coal mine discovered oil on the island.[13] A total of 14,533 tonnes (14,303 long tons; 16,020 short tons) of coal was exported by Rajah of Sarawak's Brooketon Colliery in Muara and Buang Tawer.[14][15] According to an annual report in 1915, a blockhouse overlooking the river built during the coal mining days was dismantled and materials were reused to build a new office, police station and barracks in Muara.[16][17] Crude oil was discovered in 1920 and by 1924, it has already produced up to 3,320 US gallons (12,600 L; 2,760 imp gal).[1]
In the 1990s, a proposal was made to create a 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) mangrove forest reserve.[18] As part of the 2001-2005 Eighth National Development Plan (RKN), a B$181.5 million housing scheme was drawn up in several areas which included Kampong Sungai Bunga.[19] In 2007, a new cemetery was built on the island.[20]
As of 2016, the island comprised the following census villages:[21]
Village | Population
(2016) |
---|---|
Kampong Riong | 41 |
Kampong Sungai Bunga | 797 |
Kampong Menunggol | 541 |
Kampong Pudak | 151 |
Majority of the buildings are built from concrete, especially on the northern side of the island.[22]
Batu Gasing Awang Semaun – local legend has it that near Bukit Patoi in Temburong, the legendary warrior Awang Semaun and his nephew, Awang Sinuai, were engaged in a game of gasing (spinning top). When it came Awang Semaun's turn to spin his gasing, it collided with his nephew's and took off from Temburong toward the Brunei River, where it bounced off the seas like a skipping stone and landed upside-down on the shores of Berambang Island, where it spun until it transformed into a large rock.[23]