Asian Sand Smuggling: An Environmental Threat Seldom Discussed

It is getting a bit frightening to think how difficult the fight to conserve Earth’s endangered resources is getting. As the fight against global warming trends, inducing unthinkable global climatic patterns takes centrestage, one of our planet’s most fundamental resources — the ground that we walk upon is now being assaulted. Yes, exploitation of nature’s wealth has often been associated with deforestation and poaching but now a new dimension has been added in some Asian nations wherein sand is being illegally extracted to such an extent that the survivability of the existing biosphere is under severe threat. Sand Dredging seems to be setting new benchmarks for environmental mismanagement, since it is proving to be equally detrimental to both human and natural resources.

The illegitimate sand industry has been slowly moving out of government control in many nations, wherein cheap manual labor is easily deployed to carryout sand extraction beyond ecological safety standards. Labor employed in illegal sand extraction is often exploited and paid wages below the basic benchmarks. The erosion of sand levels has left many coastal areas particularly susceptible to rising sea levels. The local flora and fauna too is threatened as sand dredging weakens the top soil layer of the surrounding areas. From an overall perspective, micro-economies in many Asian nations are suffering due to the sand smuggling nexus that continues unabated, largely due to ineffective government policies.

Understand How Singapore Has Fuelled Asian Sand Dredging

In the past decade, bulk of illegal sand shipments from Cambodian and Indonesian shores have been arriving at Singapore. This bustling city seems to have an insatiable hunger for growth. For extending its land base towards the shoreline, it needs massive coastal areas to be filled with sand. Using sea sand for reclamation of land is common in Singapore as it seeks to address the issue of shrinking land resources due to rampant commercialization. This

in turn provides the very base for developing any kind of infrastructure, i.e. a site with a firm ground. In order to make each of its buildings more productive and accommodating, Singapore is constantly reclaiming and reconstructing its present facilities. It imports nearly 4 million tonnes of sand annually, having exhausted its native supply chain, years ago.

This has created a constant need for massive shipments of sand to be procured at wholesale rates. The sand exported to Singapore was valued at around $35 million for 2007. However, during this time, Indonesia was the leading supplier to Singapore but with subsequent banning of sand dredging operations in Indonesia, Cambodia’s resources were pressurized in 2008. To a certain extent, the Singaporean issue has been created due to the laxity of the Singapore government. It turns out that the government has distanced itself from the issue and it just doesn't seem to react to the problem. The sand suppliers are not questioned about the source of their supplies. This seems strange for a cosmopolitan that brags of being progressive and contemporary enough to adopt the latest of global lifestyle trends. One would have to wonder the attitude of the government which suggests that commercial growth while maintaining environmental compatibility is not a part of their perspective — something hard to relate with a billion-dollar global destination.

Further, the authorities haven’t been sympathetic about the widespread damage caused to areas that are precariously close to the Singapore mainland either. The most interesting case in this regard is put forth by Riau Islands. This small island has been a perennial sand exporter to Singapore and the ground soil levels have been depleted to such an extent that some smaller islands in and around Riau have almost disappeared. Those dependent on fishing with their humble tools have had to suffer since the depleting coastal line means having to go further than the safety limits.

The Cambodia Story

Lam Dam near Koh Kong town, some parts of Koh Kong District, coastal areas along Koh Pao River and Mondul Seima District are regarded as the areas burdened with excessive sand mining. The illegal extractive activities are believed to have seeped into UNESCO’s Protected Areas in Cambodia to meet Singapore’s unrelenting demand. Global Witness was one of the few daring, environmental groups that had the courage to investigate the Cambodian angle to Sand Dredging even as the threat of being attacked by unlawful cartels was very evident. The trading of sand from Cambodia’s Koh Kong province eventually exposed the environmental hazards created by these illegal activities.

Latest Developments — recently, the Cambodian President banned all sand dredging activities across the nation. However, concerns still exist, as it is common knowledge that traffickers aren’t expected to abide by state rulings and this racket runs too deep to be vanquished by merely passing some regulations. One welcome development that has come forth from the Cambodian government’s initiative is that registered traders who were sending shipments of sand to Singaporean constructional suppliers would be no longer involved. However, assuming that an official banning will be effective to eradicate an illicit trade worth $8.6 million in 2008 would be a mistake.

Vietnam: Already Sand Dredged

The problem is even more acute in Vietnam. The unending exploitation of alluvial sand is so extreme that environmentalists fear for the life of coastal area settlers here. Many believe that coastal populations in Vietnam might be sitting upon an ecological catastrophe that could explode any time. It was in Vietnam that the dangerous practice of using sucking boats for mechanically pumping-out sand through motorized pumps originated. Settlements along the Red River banks have already witnessed what unlawful dredging can do — homes in the Ngoc Thuy and Long Bien districts have actually sunk into the river due to an increased frequency of landslides.

The landslides have become recurrent beyond the norm, as the surface stability has been compromised by unregulated sand mining.

It is believed that the dredging activity has been relentless to the extent that the course of the Red River might be altered and many more homes could become seriously vulnerable to being flooded or being damaged by flooded ground soil. It is hard to understand the apathy of the concerned authorities when it is common knowledge that a significant part of Vietnam’s annual spending is catered towards handling landslide-related damage.

In recent years, the Vietnamese media has been active to bring this issue to the knowledge of people and illegal sand dredging has been eradicated from some areas. Now, it has been realized that the sand trading nexus is cahoots with the regional drug traffickers — this has further complicated the issue. In areas around the revered Perfume River or the Huong, it has taken less than five years of sand dredging to highlight how damaging it can be to the environment. Nearly 5 km of the Huong riverbank is already eroded and the threat on local species of marine life is increasing with every passing day.

An issue that needs a bigger platform — what is shocking in all the above-listed examples is the lack of government’s initiative in addressing a disturbing reality that is on the verge of wounding many ecological niches beyond retrieval. Issues like introducing electronic cars with fewer carbon emissions and bringing more urban areas under green canopy seem to have taken prominence in many developing, Central and south-Asian nations. Such initiatives are welcome but such a blatant abuse of natural resources too requires to be addressed in an urgent manner. Raising the issue in international forums might help to engage some attention towards how ecologically insensitive mindsets adopted by some developed economies can prove disastrous for many smaller nations.

Listed Resources:

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/08/vietnam-to-investigate-booming-sand-exports.htmlhttp://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/09/river-sand-is-vietnams-latest.html‘Country for Sale’ at www.globalwitness.orghttp://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/09/vietnam-to-investigate-booming-sand.htmlhttp://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20070102/070203-11.htmhttp://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/08/singapore-demand-and-phony-contracts-sustain-booming-mekong-sand-exports.htmlhttp://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/08/sand-dredging-problem-on-all-vietnams.htmlhttp://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/283504,river-sand-is-vietnams-latest-endangered-resource.html