History of Muara

transport the coal to the safe deep-water anchorage at Muara, and wharves and jetties were built to allow steamships and barges to berth. By 1911, more than 1,447 people lived in Muara and some 30 shops had opened in the town. Brooketon was also where the first postage stamp in Brunei was used.

Politically too, even though he only had economic rights, Brooke became the de facto ruler of the area. The mine employed hundreds of miners and that required him to introduce a police force, post office and roads transforming Muara into an extraterritorial settlement an extension of Sarawak. It was not until 1921 that Muara was "returned" to Brunei. The mine closed in 1924 because of heavy financial losses caused by continuously decreasing coal prices in the world economic recession.

The Japanese occupied Brunei during Second World War and attempted unsuccessfully to reopen the coal mine. Brooketon was the landing location of the Australian forces as part of the Borneo Campaign (1945) at the end of the Second World War which liberated Brunei from Japanese occupation.

Under the rule of His Majesty the late Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin, the area was developed into a deepwater port to assist in the development of the country. Since 1973, Muara Port has undergone extensive improvements. These include extensions to the wharf bringing the total length to 948 meters including 250 meters dedicated container wharf and 87 metres aggregate wharf. The overall storage space in the form of covered storage is 16,950 square meters, long storage warehouses 16,630 square meters and open storage space 5 hectares. Facilities for the dedicated container wharf covers an area of 92,034 square meters including 8,034 square metres covered areas