Riau environmentalists to sue Singapore over sand imports
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau
Local environmentalists here are planning to sue the Singapore government, blamed for destroying the environment in Riau as the neighboring country has continued importing sand from the Indonesian province.
The Institute of Indonesian Forestry Studies (LPHI) said on Friday it would file a lawsuit against Singapore with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), charging it with damaging the environment off Riau.
"We shall submit the lawsuit soon. We shall charge Singapore with destroying the marine environment and mangrove forests, as well as causing the disappearance of an island in Karimun subdistrict," director of Riau's LPHI Andreas Herykahurifan told The Jakarta Post in the provincial capital, Pekanbaru.
He said the environmental destruction would get worse as Singapore needed an additional 10 billion cubic meters of sand from Riau.
"You can imagine how bad the Riau sea will be and how many more islands will sink in the interests of Singapore expanding its territory," Andreas said.
He said the Riau administration must also share the responsibility for the destruction because it had issued licenses for many private mining companies to export sand to Singapore in order to increase the province's income.
Based on the data, in 1980 only three companies were allowed to extract sand off Riau but the number had soared now to at least 18 firms licensed to export sand to the neighboring country.
Andreas said he once queried the sand businesses with relevant Singapore officials, who said it was nothing to do with their government as the transactions were handled by Indonesian and Singapore private companies.
"So, the Singapore government is really unconcerned about what is happening in our sea because it is private firms that are responsible for the sand business transactions.
"But for us, it is illogical because the reclamation is being carried out in the interests of the Singapore government," he argued.
Andreas said LPHI had solicited support from international non-governmental organizations such as Greenpeace and Down to Earth for its plan to sue Singapore.
"We shall seek to prove in the International Court of Justice whether Singapore can challenge our lawsuit," he added.
According to LPHI data, sand extraction in Riau waters, which started in 1979, has also destroyed coral reefs as a result of the movement of dredgers between Riau and Singapore. Consequently, it has significantly reduced fish catches in the waters.
So far, around 500 million cubic meters of sand have been exported from Riau to be dumped on Singapore's beaches along a stretch of at least 100 square kilometers. The neighboring country has established a number of strategic business facilities, including Changi Airport, Pasir Panjang container port, a housing project and the East Coast and Tanjung Rhu tourism resorts.