Great Karimun

Great Karimun Island or Sadah is one of the islands in the Riau Islands province of Indonesia, administratively part of Karimun Regency. It lies about 37 km southwest of Singapore, 54 km west of Batam, 24 km northeast of Rangsang Island and 32 km north of Kundur Island.

Karimun

History

In the past, Great Karimun Island was the destination of foreign traders and the Malay Kings. Around 1615 agents of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) inspected the northwestern coast of the island for the possible construction of a fortification. The proposed fort, however, was never built.[1] Two centuries later, Colonel William Farquhar surveyed the island after receiving permission from the Bugis Raja Muda of Johor, Raja Ja'afar. Although Karimun was deemed to be of great strategic value at the confluence of the Singapore and Melaka Straits, it was found to have insufficient sources fresh water to sustain a British trading post and a settlement.[2]

Geography
Government office in Tanjung Balai city

The island's main city is Tanjung Balai Karimun. As of 2011, the regency of Karimun had a population of 272,985 with the majority of the people living in Great Karimun. Notable landmarks on the island include Mount Jantan, the beaches of Pelawan and Pongkar, and the Pongkar Waterfall.

Economics

The island has strategic geographical importance, as it is near the Straits of Malacca, an international shipping route. As the island is strategically located at the border of Singapore and Johor (in Malaysia), Karimun being a part of the Riau Islands also is included the SIJORI Growth Triangle partnership. SIJORI (Singapore-Johor-Riau Islands) Growth Triangle is a strategic partnership among Singapore, Johor and Riau Islands that combine the individual and collective strength to improve the subregion attractiveness to investors from both the region and international. SIJORI links the infrastructure, capital, expertise and rich culture of Singapore with the natural resources, lands and labour resources of Johor and Riau Islands.

However, due to the stronger ties between Singapore and Malaysia, Karimun is losing its economic attraction to Singaporean investments. Another reason for the loss in attractiveness is the lack of adequate infrastructure in Karimun, especially electricity supply and the lack of transparency in the government administration.

Natural resources
Tanjung Balai port

Due to large scale indiscriminate fishing activity near the island recently, fish stocks have been depleted, and thus the fishing businesses have declined considerably.

The main export of the island is its granite which is one of the best quality in the world.

Sand has also been constantly exported, mainly to Singapore for land reclamation. Indonesian has however limited sand exports over concerns with Singapore's reclamation projects, and banned them outright in the beginning of 2007. Singapore now faces a crisis with many upcoming building developments.

Free Trade Zone
A government building in Tanjung Balai

On 29 June 2007 the Indonesian government conferred enclave Free Trade Zone status on Karimun; a move intended to address the issue of legal certainty for investors.

Under the plan Karimun will be turned into shipyard, metal, component, agricultural, and marine produce industrial development centres.

See also

References
  1. Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg and Tan Tai Yong, Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2019), p. 138.
  2. C. Mary Turnbull, A History of Modern Singapore (Singapore: NUS Press, 2009), p. 27.
  • Media related to Karimun at Wikimedia Commons
  • Karimun travel guide from Wikivoyage

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