Jakarta – The Indonesian government plans to export sea sediment that sparked debate about sea sand export after a two-decade hiatus. The sea sediment will be dredged in the waters of seven Indonesian regions; Demak, Surabaya, Cirebon, Indramayu, Karawang, Kutai Kartanegara, and Balikpapan; as well as Karimun Island, Lingga Island, and Bintan Island in Riau Islands.
The Campaign Manager for Coastal and Small Islands at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Parid Ridwanuddin, said the government's sea sediment export plan lacks scientific study.
According to Parid, the government's reasoning for dredging sea sediment that obstructs shipping lanes is baseless, as categorically, the seven regions have deep sea waters. "These are deep sea regions," Parid said.
An ecology expert, Romi Hermawan, said sea sand export will be the most profitable for Singapore, as the country has been expanding its land area.
History records that Indonesia has been Singapore's biggest sea sand supplier. In 2003, sea sand export was banned under the then President Megawati Soekarnoputri, citing environmental damages.
Two decades passed, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo plans to reopen sea sand export under Government Regulation No. 26 of 2023 on managing sedimentation at sea. The regulation provides dredging, placement, utilization, and trade, including the export of sea sand.
Quoting sg101.gov.sg, Singapore grows larger by a fraction each year thanks to land reclamation efforts. It has expanded by a fifth over the decades, from 581.5 km2 in 1960 to 725.7km2 in 2019. The country aims to reach 766km2 of landmass by 2030.
Reclaimed land has been a key driver of Singapore's economic growth. Infrastructure such as Changi Airport, Tuas Port, and Jurong Island have all been built on land reclaimed from the sea.
Sand has been crucial in enlarging the limited land space of Singapore. In its early reclamation projects, Singapore acquired sand locally. The East Coast Reclamation Scheme, for example, used soil from flattened hills in the Siglap and Tampines area to expand the land in Bedok.
Once local sources ran out, Singapore turned to importing sand from overseas. According to a 2019 United Nations Environment Programme's sand sustainability report, it has been the world's largest importer of sand for the last 20 years, bringing in an estimated 517 million tonnes of sand from neighboring countries.
Citing Reuters, Indonesia first scrapped sea sand exports in 2003 and reaffirmed that in 2007, causing a supply crunch for Singapore as 90 percent of its sand came from Indonesia. Indonesia shipped more than 53 million tonnes on average per year between 1997 and 2002.
– Linda Lestari, Riani Sanusi Putri, M. Raihan Muzzaki, Petir Garda B, Reuters
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1920529/indonesias-sea-sand-export-a-blessing-for-singapor