House calls for sand-mining ban as marine damage looms

House calls for sand-mining ban as marine damage looms

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government must ban sand dredging in the waters off Riau as
the activity has caused damaged to the marine environment and
huge losses to the state, a House of Representatives hearing with
a minister concluded on Monday.

Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim said his office
could not stand idly by given the current level of environmental
damage being caused.

"Stop it! We must carry out an environmental impact assessment
to ensure that our environment will not be damaged before
allowing the dredging to proceed," Nabiel told the hearing with
House Commission VIII on, among others things, science,
technology and the environment.

The commission strongly supported Nabiel's stance.

According to Nabiel, the relevant ministries had so far talked
of a possible ban on sand mining, but had yet to reach any
decision.

Separately, Director General of Defense Strategy at the
Ministry of Defense Maj. Gen. Sudrajat said that sand exports to
Singapore for its reclamation work would not affect the 12-mile
continental borderline, nor pave the way for the neighboring
country to expand its territory.

Speaking during a hearing with House of Representatives'
Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs on
Monday, Sudrajat, however, said "the sand exports will affect
Singapore's 200-mile exclusive economic zone".

Sudrajat was responding to the legislators' questions about
whether the export of the sand from Indonesia to Singapore for
the latter's coastal reclamation projects would expand the
territory of the city state.

"We have several times asked for a serious conversation with
Singapore about how the exclusive economic zone may be affected
due to the reclamation process. But thus far, they (Singapore)
have yet to respond," Sudrajat said.

Exports of sand to Singapore have become rampant as the
government quietly issued a presidential decree in May allowing
the activity.

The decree in May revoked an earlier regulation issued in
February to temporarily ban sand dredging and exports in response
to protests from environmentalists.

Several small islands have reportedly disappeared and coral
reefs destroyed due to the widespread sand dredging, both legal
and illegal, following the May decree.

Under Presidential Decree No. 33/2002, sea sand mining was to
be controlled and supervised by the central government through a
special team led by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries.

The decree states that all sand exports require a permit from
the central government, via the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

A special government team is also expected to take measures to
help protect the marine environment, including through zoning
mechanisms.

Since the presidential decree was issued, the Ministry of
Trade and Industry has issued 71 licenses to sand exporters, and
3.7 million cubic meters of sand has been exported to Singapore
from Riau.

Singapore is estimated to require some 1.8 billion cubic
meters of sand over the next eight years for its land reclamation
work.

Riau has been exporting sand to Singapore for many years. The
sand is sold at S$1.5 per cubic meter to international brokers,
who then sell the sand to Singapore construction firms for S$15
per cubic meter.