a result, much of the military equipment set up and constructed at the fort was left wasted and unused. The fort was then tasked to provide much-needed shelter and serve as storage place for ammunition and military equipment for the defending British troops in Singapore at the time of the Battle of Singapore. The fort was also located near where the Battle of Pasir Panjang took place (less than 10 km away). When the British military eventually surrendered to the invading Japanese military forces in Singapore on the 15th of February in 1942, the military equipment and ancillary facilities at the fort was quickly dismantled and/or destroyed by the surrendered British troops stationed there and it was closed down shortly afterwards. After the Japanese occupation of Singapore was finally over in 1945, the fort remained abandoned. A large oil refinery was later set up not too far from the area by Japanese industrial firm Maruzen Toyo in 1961 (taken over by BP in June 1964 after the oil refinery was sold off by Maruzen Toyo) and a long jetty with pipelines for transporting crude oil to and from ships and the oil refinery was constructed (the jetty served two purposes, with the transportation of oil between the oil refinery and ships and the supplying of oil from oil-tankers to the nearby Pasir Panjang Power Station). At this period of time, the rocky beach saw few visitors as it was behind a high cliff and was quite inaccessible. It also had no relevant facilities in the area (such as toilets and lamp-posts). However, the surrounding forest and the coastline were still occasionally visited by adventurous nature-seekers and nature-explorers. Labrador Beach was one of the five designated nature reserves that were established in 1951. This designation helped to prevent any extensive development from taking place in the area, which might threaten and endanger the flora and fauna of the immediate surroundings. However, in 1973, Labrador Beach's designation of a nature reserve was downgraded to that of a nature park. The future of the beach environment became uncertain as there were, at that time, no laws enacted which prevented the damage or destruction of nature parks. It was feared by many that the area would have to make way for a site for industrial development. There were consistent calls and appeals from the public to the government and the relevant authorities to preserve