Sand quarrying is 'similar to mining gold'

Sand quarrying is 'similar to mining gold'

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

"The sand down in Brantas River is just like gold. Net earnings from sand sales amount from Rp 30 to 50 million a month," Harisnaga, a sand seller in Mojokerto, told The Jakarta Post.

The quality of the sand, however, depends on the season. In the wet season, the quality is better than in the dry and gets a better price. "The sand is very coarse in the dry season so the price drops," Harisnaga said.

And the grainy gold that is obtained from the areas along the Brantas River, particularly in Jombang and Mojokerto, is better in quality than the sand found in Badas and Pare-Kediri areas and is more suitable for house construction. The sand obtained from Badas is usually used in the building of bridges and other large structures.

Sand quarrying on Brantas River is more profitable not only because the sand is finer but also because the cost of transporting it to Surabaya is lower. The distance between Mojokerto and Surabaya is only about 50 km, while it is twice as far from Kediri.

Sand mining sites near the Brantas River are found in Kediri, Jombang, Mojokerto, Sidoarjo and Kali Porong. Mining is also conducted along the Brantas River in Badas (the border area between Pare and Kediri), Udan Awu (Kediri), Kali Semut (Blitar), Wajak (Malang) and Paciran (Lumajang).

Although Sidoarjo is only 15 km away from Surabaya, the sand obtained from this place is mixed with mud, while sand obtained from Mojokerto and Jombang is finer and cleaner because it is separated from the mud beforehand.

Harisnaga said the demand for sand had increased by 5 percent to 10 percent since the second half of last year owing to an increase in residential house construction in Surabaya and Sidoarjo.

Following this increase in demand, sand production in Mojokerto has also risen and heavy machinery is again being used to remove the sand despite the local administration's ban on the use of machines.

Companies using machinery in their sand quarrying activities were always on the alert from possible raids by the local administration. Usually, Harisnaga said, each company had an insider in government to warn them.

Each time local authorities conducted a raid, the machines were left idle or were moved to other places. "Despite the high risk, the diggers continue to be used for their efficiency," he said.

If you use pumps to extract sand you can extract about nine or 10 tons of sand in an hour. Manually, the output is only about 3 tons an hour.

Using machinery is also less costly than employing people, with each sand diver costing between Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000 per day and teams generally comprising about 10 people.

Harisnaga has been quarrying sand for 15 years in Mojokerto. Before intensified raids by the local authorities, Harisnaga owned a sand-extraction machine. This machine, made by his younger brother, Joko Agung, was the first to be used for sand quarrying in Mojokerto.

Harisnaga now no longer uses the machine but still owns 15 trucks, which carry sand to Surabaya. He said police had confiscated many sand-extraction machines and said simply buying sand from the extractors and re-selling it in Surabaya meant he reaped big profits.

Although the use of machines in sand quarrying is illegal, more and more machines are now being used along the Brantas River.

Local environmental data shows this year 47 companies used machinery in their sand quarrying activities. Thirty of them operate in Jombang and Mojokerto, three in Sidoardjo and the remaining 14 in Porong. Manual sand quarrying involves 30 companies in Mojokerto and Jombang, two in Sidoardjo and another two in Porong.

In 1984, sand quarrying in Brantas River, from Kediri down to Mojokerto, totaled 500,000 m3 per year. This volume more than tripled to 1.65 million m3/year by 2002.

However, on the ground you can find more than 30 companies using machines in their sand quarrying activities in Mojokerto and Jombang alone. The machines are usually used early in the morning, between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., to avoid raids from the authorities and the stones thrown by angry locals. At 6 a.m. the sand is ready to be dispatched to Surabaya in trucks.

In 2001, sand quarrying caused the beds of Brantas River and Porong River to drop by three to four meters. A survey carried out by Perum Jasa Tirta I shows that from 2003 to 2004 the bed dropped by another five to six meters.

The quarrying has caused irrigation problems for farmers and damaged river structures such as dikes, riverbank slopes and bridge pillars.

The use of machines in sand quarrying also exerts an economic impact. Unlicensed sand quarrying activities in Mojokerto, for example, have put other licensed sand quarrying companies out of business because their sand cannot compete in terms of quality with the sand from Mojokerto and Jombang.

Until now, six of 29 licensed sand quarrying companies have stopped business.

"Each of these six companies paid about Rp 1 billion to obtain the necessary permits and buy sand quarrying equipment," Hudin Al Sonny, secretary general of the Association of Mining Companies (Aspertam) East Java chapter, told the Post.

Unlike in the Brantas River, in other places where sand is still abundant, machines can be used in sand quarrying if one has a permit. The cost of a permit for the use of a machine depends on the area of operation. For an area of about 5 hectares, a permit costs Rp 1 million. Permits are valid for different periods. For an area of about 5 hectares, a permit must be renewed each year.

Sonny said sand quarrying in East Java yielded about 35,000 tons a day. Some 15,000 tons came from unlicensed sand quarrying worth an estimated Rp 80 million a day, he said.

Another impact of unlicensed sand quarrying, Sonny said, was that it discouraged fresh investment in the sector. Many companies had canceled plans to invest in sand quarrying in Badas Pare because the illegal competition meant it was no longer lucrative.

"I have a license for sand quarrying in Badas Pare but I have not started any operations yet," said Sonny, who owns a sand- quarrying company.

The association urged the government to take serious action against the unlicensed use of machines in sand quarrying before more companies closed down. "More sand quarrying sites mean more employment opportunities for locals," Sonny said.