Islands in the Sand

FOR the past three months, residents of Pari Island have often seen a massive ship sailing past. The Cristobal Colon, a hopper dredger ship flying the flag of Luxembourg, slowly passes west and south of the islandtowards Kamal on the Jakarta coast heading for Tunda Island, located in the Java Sea, which is a part of Serang regency in Banten.

In a day, that 30-meter-tall black and white ship makes four trips back and forth past Parithe largest of the 110 islands in the Thousand Islands Regency in Jakarta Bay. Due to its massive size, each time the ship passes creates 2-meter-high waves in its wake. "In early May, a tourist was rolled over by a wave while snorkelling," said Wahyudin, an island resident, last week.