Bukom Islands

11 December 2006

Pulau Bukom
Pulau Bukum appears in Franklin and Jackson's 1828 map as Po. Bukum. The name come from the Malay name of a shell Rangkek Bukom which is wide at one end and tapers to a narrow point, much like the shape of the island.

Originally a mangrove swamp, the island was a source of fresh water for ships. In 1884, a trader Gagino established a water company to supply water to passing ships, and thus was also known as Fresh-water Island.

Asiatic Petroleum Company (Shell) developed the island in 1892 into an enormous oil refinery. Shell even built a town for the refinery staff on the eastern end of the island, which the population had been relocated to the mainland though the buildings remain for use by staff on long shifts.

Pulau Bukom Kechil
Pulau Ular
Besides Pulau Bukom itself, the refinery also includes Pulau Bukom Kechil and Pulau Ular.

Pulau Busing
Shell has plans to extend the refinery to nearby Pulau Busing and Pulau Hantu through reclamation.

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