Hidden Treasures

With the dwindling world resources, there are continuous tensions between preserving parts of the earth that are still remained untouched and to exploit these areas for their rich resources. And rightly so, large parts of the Arctic, tropical forests and protected areas in the world are still off limit. Brunei now faces similar dilemma. There are big parts of Brunei in the pristine jungles of Belait and Tutong that has not been fully explored for oil, mining, forestry and other resources. It’s a fine balance.

But the decision has been made. A couple of oil consortiums consisting of foreign and local players are now embarking on an expensive programme to search for oil and gas in Belait and Tutong. These are big gambles. If all goes well, Brunei will have its own Mr. JR Ewing one day!

Looking at the satellite image over Ulu Belait, one could see a big contrast between green Brunei and near barren lands next door in our neighbouring country. If you double click the photo to see an enlarged version, you could see some logging tracks have actually infringed into Brunei territory. It’s not an easy task to patrol the border 24-7. But if kept unwatched, our forest will soon be devastated by the same hands from next door.