Old Bintulu airport building in 1955

Old Bintulu airport building as seen in 1955
Picture credit: Ho Ah Choon, Sarawak in Pictures - 1940's -70's, Sarawak Press Bhd, Kuching.

 The airport buildings were made of timber and even the row of private individual houses fronting the airport (at the background of the picture) were also made of timber structures and roofing of "belian" shingles.  The picture shows passengers alighting from the aircraft and going to the arrival/departure building at right of the picture.

The site of the old Bintulu airport building taken on 13.12.13.
Note the  low rise nature and construction of shophouses in concrete and roofing of metallic sheets.

Bintulu is one the most interesting places to visit in the early days of its development because of the ease of arriving and departing Bintulu town.  The airport was located right in the midst of town.  According to records, the Bintulu airport was built in 1938 but construction was halted when the Japanese invaded Bintulu in 1941.  After the war was over, construction was renewed and completed in August 1955.  The first civil aircraft to land at the Bintulu airport on the morning of 26th August 1955 was "Rapide" - a twin rotor aircraft with wings made of canvas.  Later a Twin Pioneer - 16 seater plane was in operation to replace the "Rapide".  Other types of planes used in succeeding years were the Fokker Friendship and Fokker 50.  With the construction of a new airport  and its use, the old airport was abandoned and the site cleared and used for miscellaneous functions like fun fair, kite flying, and free car parking spaces.
 The old airport was officially closed on 29 March, 2003 and flights in and out of Bintulu were handled by a new airport built 23 kilometers away from the town centre, towards the south of Bintulu town.

Bintulu town centre during third economic boom (2003 -2008)

 The third boom years have consolidated Bintulu's position as the industrial showpiece of Sarawak.  The industrial developments were mainly focused at Tanjung Kidurong industrial zone but the multiplier effects have broadened into many aspects of the town's physical and infrastructural facilities and amenities especially those directly or indirectly supporting the major developments at Kidurong and the town's increasing population growth.

Aerial view of Bintulu town centre in mid 70's - prior to the first economic boom (1979 - 1983)

Bintulu town centre, view looking north , 2003.
The picture above shows the Bintulu airport that was situated in the midst of Bintulu town.
The airport was officially closed on 29 March, 2003 and flights in and out Bintulu were handled by a new airport built 23 kilometers away from the town centre, towards the south of Bintulu town.

(Picture credits : "Petronas LNG Complex" - brochure issued during official opening of Petronas LNG Complex at Kidurong on 8th May, 2003)

Old Council Negri monument in 1967

The small monument  as shown in the middle of the picture above was built in 1967 to commemorate the centenary of the first Council Negri session at Bintulu on  8th September 1867.  On this same location was built the new Clock Tower monument to replace the old one.  The plaque which is attached to the small monument above (center of picture) is now placed below the new Clock Tower.
Note the building behind the monument which was used as a government store in the 60's.

"Tugu Council Negri" or Council Negri monument in the form of a Clock Tower standing on the same location of the old monument.
Today the clock tower is part of a commercial re-development project called the BDA-Shahida Shopping area.

 On the 8th of September 1867, Bintulu was chosen by Charles Brooke , the Tuan Muda of Sarawak to be the first place to hold the Sarawak General Council session. The Sarawak General Council standing orders were, "to deliberate on any matter of great importance to the population in general in the countries under Sarawak rule, or should any difficulty arise among the different people about laws and customs, giving rise to hindrances and disputes, the meeting of the members and majority of their bodies.." (T. Harrison, Council Negri Centenary, BLB, Kuching, 1967).
The session was composed of the Tuan Muda, five Europeans and sixteen Malay aristocrats or the abang of Kuching.  In later years the term Council Negri was used to replace Sarawak General Council.

The plaque of the old monument  is located below the new Council Negri monument ( Clock Tower)

Old Bintulu food market and 'Tua Pek Kong' in 1972

Bintulu old food market (middle of picture) and 'Tua Pek Kong' (small building at top let of the picture)
Date of picture : 1972
Note the timber structure of all the shophouses and market buildings with roofing of belian shingles.
The river in the background is the Kemena river, flowing out to sea towards the right of the picture.

Picture shows the above same location taken on 27 September,2013.

There is a considerably big plot of land somewhere in the middle of Bintulu town which housed two structures in 1972.  At the top picture is shown the old food market and the 'Tua Pek Kong' - which is a small shrine housing a Chinese deity.  Today the plot of land has retained the 'Tua Pek Kong' which has been re-built in stages over the years .  In the picture above it is partly shown as the green tiled roofing structure on the former shrine site.  The old food market area has been turned into a small town garden.  Today all shophouses are of concrete structures and more permanent buildings are built around the town like the Main Market ( 'Pasar Utama' ) partly seen as a cone -shaped blue roofing structure above.

Map of Bintulu in the 1960's compared with 1980's

Map of Sarawak showing the 4 administrative divisions
Bintulu is in the Fourth Division of Sarawak
Source : Vernon Mullen (1967) The Story of Sarawak, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.

 In the 1960's Bintulu was just a remote district in the Fourth Division which was having its administrative headquarters at Miri.  Administratively it was under the control of Miri for much of the time it was under the colonial days or pre -1963 era.  The above map shows its location in a massive division and thus little could be done to develop it as resources were mainly directed at developing the headquarters of the 4th Division..i.e. Miri.  Bintulu was then in the backwaters of development.

Map of Bintulu District Area in 1981 showing the full area covered under the responsibility of BDA (Bintulu Development Authority)
The same boundary was used to demarcate the area of the Bintulu Division when Bintulu became a new division on 1st January, 1987.

However, Bintulu's fortunes changed in the late 1970's with the formation of Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) which spearheaded the development of the Bintulu region with its vast reserves of natural gas offshore.  1979 marked the beginning of the first boom in Bintulu.  With effect from 1st January 1981 the BDA designated area was extended to cover the whole of the Bintulu District Area, some 4,574 sq. miles of land mass.  In 1981, Bintulu had an estimated population of 58,000.  To enable Bintulu to move forward faster it was made into a Division on the 1st of January, 1987.