TUTONG
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Consultants mapping out development plans for Tutong district for the next two decades yesterday suggested that Brunei build its second airport there as a catalyst for service sector development to take place.
Three locations were mooted for the site of the facility but after consideration of land suitability and environmental impact, consultants Integrated Environmental Consultants (IEC) Sdn Bhd suggested “under-utilised” Binturan Military Reserve in Mukim Keriam as the preferred location.
“We would like to propose strongly for Binturan to be the site of a second international airport,” said Warrick Newall, the director of IEC.
IEC and Town and Country Planning Department held focus group discussions on the Tutong District Plan at the district’s community hall, where Newall pitched the idea to stakeholders from the government and the private sector.
“This relatively major infrastructure project for Tutong could also run in conjunction with other initiatives, in terms of planning. We look to the service industry as a potential expansion area,” he said.
The airport installation should prompt other government facilities to be introduced in the area such as quarantine area, customs and excise facilities, coastal distribution centre, Newall said, adding that the affiliation between airport installation and service industry has worked “extremely well” in other cities such as Perth, Australia.
“It’s really part of the initiative that would bring government administrative services into the district or at least an incentive for them to consider whether they wanted to either expand their services or just centre their services around this type of facility,” he explained to The Brunei Times.
Much of Tutong’s working population currently commutes out of the district towards the capital or the Belait district to serve the government services sector, said the expert from IEC, which has been studying Tutong’s geography, socio-economy and other aspects for the district plan.
Newall said the airport would also create potential employment opportunities and space for the corresponding government services to undertake their own planning and layout for the district.
“We’d like to see consideration of government putting the non-essential services into Tutong. If you can tie that in as part of a service sector, that runs very well with a facility such as an airport,” he said. Previously, a similar suggestion was made by consultants carrying out long-term development plans for Belait district in 2008. However, during last year’s State Legislative Council session, authorities dispelled any speculation over plans for Brunei to have a second airport, saying that the plan has been “set aside”. Instead, they will be upgrading the existing airport.
Newall acknowledged that there may not be any demand for an airport in the short term, but assured that in 20 years, the issue would surface.
“Bandar Seri Begawan is perhaps getting a little congested in some areas. It certainly is fairly tight around the Berakas area (where the current airport is), and there are limited options for expansion of services around the existing airport itself. We are seeing a lot of housing closing in on those areas,” he said.
“We would like to see opportunities for this industry and this sector right through the planning period rather than get to a 20-year-period and then have to deal with the same issue (then),” the IEC director said.
It was unlikely that the second airport would function as an international one from the outset, Newall pointed out, but added that it could initially begin on a smaller scale, such as an airbase or a smaller commercial facility “before eventually, it will become a viable second airport for Brunei”.
However, building a second airport at the consultant’s proposed site in Tutong would mean that Brunei’s airports would be 30 to 40 kilometres’ drive from each other.
Asked if this would pose a problem, Newall said: “Close proximity of airports can be good as long as your flightpaths are obviously separate or alignment is separate. You can benefit from having a strong connection between close-by airports.”
He defended this by taking the example of Melbourne, where there is a “cluster of airports, all within 15-20 minutes drive of each other”.
Among the benefits, the IEC director said, were potential for remote buildings for radar to be shared, public transport linkage and potential to accommodate low-cost flights, which are seen to be on the rise in this region.
The Brunei Times
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