Nipah Island, one of 83 border islands serving as points of
reference for Indonesia's sea borders, is at the centre of
Singapore's current dispute with Jakarta.
Nipah lies dead in front of the main reclamation work and is now
almost submerged.
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri points
out that if the island sinks completely the international boundary
between Indonesia and Singapore will change - to Singapore's
advantage.
Though the two countries have an existing agreement on marine
territory, they have not yet settled their continental coastlines
and economic exclusive zones (EEZs).
The Convention on the Law of the Sea states that marine territory
is measured based on the coastal base line.
Jakarta is concerned that in the future, some Riau land could thus
be claimed as Singapore's on the basis that if Singapore gets
wider, its territorial line will also get wider
from http://www.littlespeck.com/region/CForeign-SEA-030802.htm
