#1: [20-Jun-04] (incomplete)

07-Oct-2022 -- Almost 20 years after the previous abortive attempt, a small group of adventurers in Singapore decided to take another shot at this tantalizing close confluence.

Singapore is well connected to the Indonesian island of Batam, and the Batam port of Sekupang now has a daily Dumai Express ferry to Selatpanjang, which stops at both Tanjung Samak and Tanjung Repan on Rangsang. Tanjung Repan in turn has a paved road connecting almost directly to the plantation where the confluence is now located, about 22 km away by road. We were all set to go and had even arranged motorcycle transport to pick us up at the Tg Repan dock, when we received the bad news:

The plantation is owned by a company called PT. Sumatera Riang Lestari (PT SRL), and Rangsang's police chief had suggested we reach out to them and secure permission. Alas, that permission was firmly rejected: they were adamant that taking pictures of any kind on their property was absolutely forbidden, and there would be no exceptions granted. This in turn is probably because PT SRL has been previously accused of clear-cutting protected forest on Rangsang Island and turning it into pulpwood plantations (PDF, page 9), and is thus very unhappy about the idea of strangers photographing their operations. Unhelpfully, one report even includes a picture of somebody holding up a GPS device to record coordinates! (PDF, page 12)

So, unless somebody convinces PT SRL to change their mind, or somehow manages to fly under the radar, it is sadly unlikely that this confluence can be visited.

In case somebody does want to try their luck, contact information and our detailed plan for getting there from Singapore can be found in this public Google doc.