Bandar Seri Begawan- The Sultanate now has its very own Maritime Museum as the construction of the building to house the museum has been completed. At the moment, exhibits in the new museum are being set up and expected to be operational next year.
The construction of the Maritime Museum started on December 14, 2006 under the eighth National Development Plan. The $5 million museum is meant to make Brunei Darussalam more appealing to global tourists.
Situated beside the Malay Technology Museum, the Maritime Museum is built on a 3.74-hectare land overseeing the, Brunei River. The museum has three permanent galleries.
Gallery 1 in the museum will house exhibits to show Brunei‘s way of living related to maritime and the evolution of crafting marine transportation, including Sultan Bolkiah‘s ship, as well as seafaring.
Gallery 2 will highlight Brunei‘s role as the centre of maritime trade in the past, which will showcase artefacts found from the various Brunei maritime areas, while Gallery 3 will show the archaeological sites of Brunei Maritime areas.
The handing over ceremony of the Maritime Museum was held yesterday at the new museum.
A representative of the Manager of Probuilder SDN BHD, Mr. Jo Mar, handed over the key of the new museum to Director of Technical Services at the Public Works Department, Dayang Hajah Siah binti Haji Amat. Dayang Siah, who then handed the key to Acting Director of Museums, Awang Bantong bin Antaran.
The Maritime Museum will instill a sense of awareness, responsibility as well as appreciation of the national cultural heritage, and also serve as the centre to disseminate information on the national cultural heritage. Malek Hashim
Source: Brudirect.com