NewSand, anyone?

The Straits Times, February 12, 2007


INDONESIA'S ban on the export of sand took effect last week. On paper, the ban applies to all countries. But Singapore is by far its largest importer, and one Indonesian official has already acknowledged that the ban was motivated by bilateral disputes with the Republic.

Singapore's leaders, determinedly valiant as always in the face of adversity, have been reassuring Singaporeans that, despite the ban, construction costs will increase only marginally, by 1 to 3 per cent. The government has released sand from its stockpile and is also sourcing it from other countries in the region. Contractors are also looking to rely more on other building materials such as steel and glass.

Last Saturday, for instance, this newspaper reported National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan making very much the same points.

Then, three pages later, came this short little news item: Ministers from Singapore and Indonesia had met last Friday to discuss economic cooperation between the Republic and the Indonesian islands of Batam, Bintan and Karimun.

This was the fourth meeting since an agreement between the two countries was signed in June last year to develop special economic zones on the three Indonesian islands, said the report.

Was I missing something here? With the supply of sand from Indonesia halted, Singapore was still in talks to help the latter develop the Batam- Bintan-Karimun special economic zone (SEZ)?

The aid offered so far includes Singapore's Institute of Technical Education tying up with Batam Polytechnic to tailor vocational training for workers. The SEZ aims to attract US$1 billion (S$1.53 billion) of new investments and create about 100,000 jobs over the next three years. According to Dr Budiono, the Indonesian minister co-chairing the project with Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang, 37 new projects with a total value of US$73 million were approved between June and October. 'It is a modest amount, but it's still a turnaround. In the past, you heard about the exodus, but now people are coming back,' he said.

Yes, Singapore signed an agreement last June to help Indonesia develop the SEZ. And yes, Singapore is a stickler for agreements - when it signs them, it sticks to them, and expects others to do the same.

But will the average Singaporean feel the same way?

When floods hit Jakarta recently, for instance, some Singaporeans had asked: 'Why should we help them since they refuse to sell sand to us?'

Even now, Singapore officialdom treads on egg shells as it prepares aid for Indonesian flood victims, fearing a domestic backlash.

To the average Singaporean, the sand ban smacks simply of another instance of diplomatic pique which hurts Indonesians even as it deprives Singapore of sand. The Indonesian sand-shovellers' association, for instance, has threatened to sue the Jakarta government over the ban
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Indonesia has no shortage of sand. Nor can sand mining be said to be eroding Indonesia's boundaries since it is an archipelago with an abundance of islands - 17,000 and counting.

According to the Singapore suppliers who import the land sand from Indonesia, their sand sources include Bintan, Morro, Pulau Sugi, Pulau Citlim, Singkep and Bangka. These islands are located away from the boundaries between Indonesia and Singapore, as fixed under a 1973 treaty, and there is no danger of boundaries being shifted, surreptitiously or otherwise.

Sand mining is affecting the environment? That would be a legitimate concern, if true. China and India, for instance, have both banned sand mining in certain parts of their countries because of the damage to rivers.

But rather than an outright ban, would not the better approach have been to impose stricter rules on where and how mining can be done? The rules should apply to all mining companies regardless of nationality. If Singapore importers have been guilty of being party to indiscriminate and environmentally devastating sand mining, they too should be penalised.

In any case, Singapore sand importers have not sat idly by since the ban came into effect.
Industry sources say Vietnam is a viable alternative source of land sand.

Indeed, the best thing that has come out of the ban so far is the realisation not only that Singapore needs to diversify its import sources, but also that it needs to reduce its reliance on sand itself, whether from the sea or the land.

On the streets, never- say-die Singaporeans are advocating NewSand, much as Singapore came up with Newater when Malaysia threatened to cease supplying water to the republic.

Among the suggestions I have come across is one to extract minerals from the sea waters surrounding Singapore to make concrete, by passing an electric current through the water.

The idea sounds electrifying, but hey, drinking water from sewage sounded bizarre too when we first heard about it. Ten years from now, who knows?



By Chua Lee Hoong, REVIEW EDITOR