BSP To Build Mega Community Centre
By Nadi DP Mahmud

Kuala Belait - Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) yesterday unveiled plans for its largest community development project yet - a multi-million dollar community centre. The proposed centre will have 24-lane bowling alley and Cineplex which the oil producer heralds as the link between the Oil and Gas Discovery Centre (OGDC) and Seria town.

Plans for Pusat Insani, which will begin construction in 2009, were officially shown to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam during a Get-Together Ceremony celebrating the monarch's 62nd birthday in Belait District, yesterday.

The centre will feature a main hall which can accommodate 1,500 people in banquet seating, function rooms, a surau, a cafe, a gymnasium, a VVIP room as well as a two-storey Learning Unit equipped with Internet access. It will be built on an area across 10 square metres opposite the OGDC building and the featured 24-lane bowling alley is set to become the country's biggest.

"This project will add value to the quality of life for the people of Brunei Darussalam, especially the Belait residents. It will become another platform to host community events, which will foster solidarity and goodwill among the people in Seria and Belait," said BSP Deputy Managing Director Hj Zainal Abidin Hj Mohd Ali, who led His Majesty when he toured BSP's 'Galeria Pusat Insani' during the event.

"His Majesty was impressed, and thanked BSP for coming up with the project," Hj Zainal Abidin told The Brunei Times following a VIP luncheon with the monarch.

The project, which comes as BSP nears 80 years of presence in the Sultanate since the discovery of oil in 1929, "will become the hallmark of harmony between the oil and gas industry and the local community," BSP said in a media release.

Two local architect firms have been appointed to design the building, which will have a glass facade to bring in as much natural light as possible into the interior. A skylight will be built on top of the main pyramid-shaped roof above the main hall. The cineplex is expected to be a hit with Belait residents, who have been relishing for such a facility since the Marina Cinema shut down several years ago. Currently the OGDC's auditorium is being used as a makeshift cinema during night time to cater for Belait moviegoers.

"I would say it (the OGDC cinema) will be replaced with a proper cinema. I think it would be able to seat 150 people in each cinema, which is significantly large," said Dr Grahaeme Henderson, the managing director of BSP.

Construction for Pusat Insani is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

Click Here To Have Your Say On This Story

Brudirect.com News

Brunei's Fastest Growing Website with