Riau environmentalists to sue Singapore over sand imports

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.