BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

CONSTRUCTION has finally begun for the historic Sungai Brunei bridge as reported recently by Quratul-Ain Bandial. A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of the future 607-metre link that will span the water village to connect Jalan Residency in Bandar with Kg Sungai Kebun in Lumapas.

Scroll down for more stories on this project, which The Brunei Times reporters have covered over the past year.

It’s expected to benefit Lumapas residents who will no longer have to fight through heavy traffic areas such as Jalan Tutong and Jalan Bengkurong Masin to reach the capital. Travel time to the capital will be shortened. The bridge is expected to drive land and property value up in the area. This report by Debbie Too in 2013.

Some people will have to give up their homes, however. Forty-nine families from Mukim Lumapas and Mukim Sungai Kebun will be forced to relocate to make way for the bridge, Quratul-Ain Bandial writes.

It’s one of the biggest construction projects in Brunei. A $138.9 million joint venture contract was signed last year by Swee Sdn Bhd and Daelim Industrial Co Ltd with the Ministry of Development to build the cable-stayed bridge. Debbie Too tells us more about South Korean firm Daelim which has built nine cable-stayed bridges in South Korea.

Shareen Han has an article compiling some of the relevant reports The Brunei Times has published on this long-awaited bridge project. She discusses how the bridge would result in housing projects in the area, and that land would be allocated for small and medium enterprises.

Check out our video on the Sungai Brunei bridge groundbreaking ceremony.

The Brunei Times