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Jurong Island is a man-made island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore, off Jurong Industrial Estate. It was formed from the amalgamation of several offshore islands, chiefly the 7 main islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek Kecil, Pulau Sakra and Pulau Seraya. This was done through land reclamation. When completed, Jurong Island will form a land area of about 32 km² from an initial area of less than 10 km².
Jurong Island is linked to the main island by a 2.3 km causeway known as the Jurong Island Highway, opened in March 1999.
History
The outlying islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau and Pulau Seraya used to house fishing communities comprising small villages up to the 1960s. The villagers lived in Malay-style wooden stilt houses on the palm-fringed islands. Between late-1960s and early-1970s, 3 big oil companies planned to house their facilities on Pulau Ayer Chawan for Esso, Pulau Merlimau for Singapore Refinery Company and Pulau Pesek for Mobil Oil.
The government of Singapore then took the opportunity to grow the petrochemical industry as a choice that will significantly produce economic growth. This was proven by the success of starting off the petroleum industries in the 1970s.
In 1991, JTC Corporation (Jurong Town Corporation) was appointed the agent of the Jurong Island project. JTC planned and coordinated with various government agencies in providing the necessary infrastructure and services to the island.
Jurong Island today
Today, Jurong Island is home to leading petrochemical companies; industry luminaries like BASF, BP, Celanese, ExxonMobil, DuPont, Mitsui Chemicals, Chevron Oronite, Shell and Sumitomo Chemical have taken the opportunity by setting up factories there to reap the benefits of comprehensive infrastructure and production synergies from this unique cluster development for oil, petrochemical and specialty chemicals.
Jurong Island also houses the Seraya Power Station, Singapore's first offshore power station, which was completed in phases on the former Pulau Seraya since 1982.
Furthermore as part of Singapore's effort to move up the value chain, an R&D centre (Institute of Chemical and Engineering Science) is setup on the island.
External link
- Jurong Island - History and important investor information run by JTC Corporation.
"Jurong Island"