Councillor supports ban on sea sand export

Councillor supports ban on sea sand export

PEKANBARU, Riau: A top Riau provincial legislator said on
Saturday sea sand exports from the region must be stopped because
the disadvantages of the trade far outweighed its advantages.

Zanzibar Nong, deputy chairman of the Riau provincial
legislative assembly, said the income derived from sea sand
mining and exports could not compensate the losses they caused.

"Sea sand mining and exports are believed to have caused
environmental destruction and harmed the interests of local
fishermen. In other words, they are more disadvantageous than
beneficial and therefore must be stopped," he said.

Indonesia last year decided to stop sea sand exports after
allowing them for decades. The exports mainly used to go to
Singapore, which needed the sea sand to reclaim land from the
sea. Singapore paid only US$1.5 per cubic meter.

A local community figure, Muhammad Buang, meanwhile also said
he was strongly against sea sand mining and exports from the
region because the activities had caused environmental damage.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri,
after meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday,
said he told the President the government should stick to the
prohibition for the sake of the country's territorial integrity.

Meanwhile, Riau Governor Mohamad Rusli, who also met with the
President to seek her support on the same day, urged the
President to lift the complete ban on sand exports from Riau to
Singapore, assuring her that he was ready with a more
environmentally friendly sand quarrying system. -- Antara