Plans Underway To Boost Trade For Telisai And Danau
By Khairunnisa Ibrahim

Bandar Seri Begawan - The coastal communities of Telisai and Danau in the Tutong district are set to undergo transformation from sleepy settlements into vibrant commercial, industrial and recreational centres once blueprints of the Telisai and Danau Local Area Plans are approved by the government and set in motion.

The summarised' version of the plan's final draft had been displayed to the public during the World Town Planning Day celebrations in all the four districts last November.

In the draft, five priority areas have been identified for further development - housing, public facilities, commerce, leisure and recreation, and aquaculture. Both Telisai and Danau are strategically located along the coastline, with good land and water transport systems, thus giving them an added advantage in terms of recreational potential and easy accessibility.

According to the latest available statistics, as of January 2005, the population of Telisai and Danau stood at 3,571 and this figure is projected to grow to almost 6,000 by the year 2015. The existing land uses of the two settlements, which covers a combined area of 3510 hectares, includes residential, community facilities and primary industries such, as agriculture, chicken breeding and aquaculture.

Their proximity to the coastline also makes them an ideal site for sand extraction and aquaculture.

However, Telisai and Danau presently remains relatively unknown and unpopular among the local and foreign tourists, compared to the nearby recreational area of Pantai Seri Kenangan in nearby Tutong town.

The lack of commercial and investment opportunities in the area has also led to sluggish growth in terms of industry, business and employment. But the on-going development of a local commercial superstore in Tutong is hoped to generate more commercial and investment opportunities, namely the opening of another Hua Ho Department Store in Tutong town.

Furthermore, the two localities are also facing rapidly deteriorating environmental quality as a result of ongoing sand extraction activities, that is being hauled away to provide raw materials for construction projects elsewhere, namely in the capital. The local plan also proposes several developments to rejuvenate these relatively quiet areas into places of attraction.

Among these future development includes plans for the establishment of a town centre, with its own market, a mosque and multi-purpose hall.

To take advantage of the area's potential for aquaculture, one of the target industries in the country's economic diversification drive, the plan also includes developing an ecological park for aquaculture and a fish hatchery in Danau. The relatively unpolluted levels of water quality of Brunei's waters is another advantageous prospect for setting up aquaculture projects, as compared to the water quality in neighbouring countries.

Additionally, several ambitious plans for the area's recreation and tourism development have been unveiled in the plan.

Among the proposed development include establishing of a beachfront budget hotel in Telisai and developing the Danau headland into a recreational park. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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