While the sun was slowly sinking into the sea one Saturday afternoon, 47-year-old Samsul Bahri was brooding on his old self-assembled fishing boat, trying to get a sign from nature of the right time to sail out again.

Samsul, one of hundreds of inhabitants of Sabira Island in the regency of Thousand Islands, has not been going out to see to catch fish for eight days over fear of bad weather.

“In the past week, there have been big waves, so we were not able to do many activities far away,” he told The Jakarta Post recently, adding that many fishermen relied on the sale of salted fish processed in modest quantities by their wives at home to meet daily needs.

Living on the farthest island in the Jakarta Sea away from the government’s reach, nearly 200 families on Sabira have to survive on their own with very limited means, navigating the everyday ups and downs on the outskirts of the city.

Gunawan, leader of the island’s Karang Taruna youth organization, who works at the one-stop integrated service (PTSP) office in Sabira, said that Sabira islanders recently enjoyed some new facilities but there was much left to improve.

“The [Jakarta] administration began to reach out to Sabira in 2015, a little late compared to other islands, with the presence of the PTSP that helps a lot with licensing. We used to go to Harapan Island each time we needed to take care of some document,” said the 29-year-old.

After a visit of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and his team earlier this year, he added, the locals now enjoyed 24-hour electricity, internet access and, most importantly, a speedboat provided by the Jakarta Transportation Agency that saved much travel time.

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