From The Telegraph
The island city-state’s size has increased by over 20 per cent since the 1960s and demand for sand for lucrative land reclamation and development projects is higher than ever.
However, recent bans on exporting sand introduced in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have cut off supplies and opened up a thriving smuggling trade.
Thieves have begun making night-time raids on the picturesque sandy beaches of Indonesia and Malaysia, carving out millions of tons of coastline and leading to fears of an imminent environmental catastrophe on a swath of tropical islands.
Singapore’s land developers are now pitted against environmental groups, who claim several of the 83 border islands off the north coast of Indonesia could disappear into the sea in the next decade unless the smugglers are stopped.
“It is a war for natural resources that is being fought secretly,” said Nur Hidayati, Greenpeace Indonesia spokesman. “The situation has reached critical levels and the tropical islands of Nipah, the Karimun islands and many small islands off the coast of Riau are shrinking dramatically and on the brink of disappearing into the sea.
“The smugglers have no problem getting it into Singapore and these boats are rarely intercepted by customs boats or the navy. The supply is constant.”
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That is the trouble when you are richer than your neighbours! They can’t do better than you, so they invented baseless accusation against you. Best to ignore all their childish accusation!
Our MIW hates accusation. They will sue them till they’re bankrupt like how they sue the opposition party, if not, our integrity will become worthless. Is a coward if we ignore them. But we can’t use our best fighter plane or navy boat to attack them because we have many indonesian foreign talent here, if they leave Singapore, our house and share will become worthless.
//My Views
When you have to resort to stealing people’s sand for your projects, it shows that how low you have sunked.
If you cannot afford the price, don’t buy.
There are rich countries who get to buy things from their poor neighbors.
This thing is of total benefit to Singapore. Willing seller, willing buyer.
I support it
//hoddioo
When do you need to smuggle if there is a willing seller?
What a joke!
A long time ago, in a tropical island far far away….
they r digging up punggol to create a river….my guess is they are badly short of sand to build more pigeon holes…..
Sands is precious than Gold for Singapore growth so cannot do without it (That’s whey La Vegas Sands also here to stay)
Good. I’m hoping to see that Singapore stopped from buying all this sand.
So that we can slow up construction in this already ridiculously built up place.
So that developers can opt for more high-tech methods that don’t require so many foreigners.
i think we need to buy more sands…
to bury lauLEE and my views..if not better manmade QUICKSANDs..
no..not the bangela quicksands..thats S H I T…quality….
It is politics and nothing else. I remember a month ago when i was in Malaysia, i read a newspaper article talking about our “Sands” got not enough sands, IR project is delayed and is a failure etc…Overall, they are quite happy and hoped that we don’t do well. This is the kind of neighbours we have, and you just have to wait for that 1 or 2 of the old farts (who had personal grudges) are gone.
//lauleethepoorminister
use cement.
just use korsene. Burn. don’t need sand. Why waste. Or feed him to the other pigs.
Well, if anyone’s at fault, the corrupt politicians in Indo and Malaysia are to blame. If they don’t want to do enough to stop people digging and selling their own land, why should we care?
I’m also surprised TOCs giving a British tabloid article such prominence. Calling for a change in our political system and being ‘anti-PAP’ is laudable, but slinging mud at our own country just to get a point across??
[i]but slinging mud at our own country just to get a point across??[/i]
do you think the 143rd medias would publish such news?
the bbc/british medias would publish ANY news on britain NEGATIVELEE even if it offend the ROYAL familLEE..thats is called journalism..
what is yours? just to congratulate leekuanyew 88th birthday perhaps?
Is Mahathir even sane? 700 lorries of sand a day coming into Singapore would mean nearly one every 2 minutes round the clock! Mahathir must have gone cukoo. I’ve also read Indonesian newspapers which say that much of the sane smuggling operations actually involve sand being transferred in between Indonesian islands rather than out of the country.
“I’m also surprised TOCs giving a British tabloid article such prominence. ”
I have to disagree. The Telegraph is so-not a tabloid. Daily Mail and the Sun, yes. But Telegraph (centrist/conservative), like Guardian (centre-left/liberal), The Independent (left) and the Times (centre-right) are not tabloids. I trust the articles in these UK papers more that I do the propaganda-esque Straits Times. Sure you can discern their perspective or left/right bias, but tabloid journalism isn’t one of them.
It is a matter of fact that our neighbours, Malaysia / Indonesia vis-a-vis political corruption or brinksmanship or Cambodia/Vietnam in correlation to environmental damage concerns, have banned the sales of sand to Singapore. And if you ban or overregulate commerce of anything, smuggling happens (hello contraband cigarettes).
Sure the corruption from other countries is at fault – but it takes two hands to clap – since we are so willing to buy contraband goods in this case for our benefit. The gist of the story is that we are willing buyers of smuggled commodities, even at environmental costs to others.
Not that we care, officially, until it becomes an issue to be settled at some world court tribunal or something. Right, PAP?
Sand is a legitimate commodity that is trading in the world. There is nothing wrong per se in buying sand. The wrong comes in how the sand is being extracted- does it damage the environment or not. If it damages the environment, Malaysia and Indonesia should be the one clamping down on those people. How can Singapore tell where and how the sand is extracted across the boundaries in M’sia and Indonesia? Sand is not like illegal cigarettes, one look and you know if it is legal or not legal.
Underlying the story is that M’sia and Indonesia can’t get their act together in policing activities on their own soil. (pun intended). Rather than admit there is incompetence/corruption, it is much easier to blame Singapore.
//RW
I think the point is Malaysian govt didn’t want to sell sand to Singapore.
Should s’pore still buy smuggled sand from Malaysia knowingly?
RW, yeah like mon said. Fact is, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have all outlawed the sales and importation of sand into Singapore. There are no legal avenues to buying this off them. So a barge originating from Indonesia or Malaysia bringing in sand is illegal, anyway.
“”The smugglers have no problem getting it into Singapore and these boats are rarely intercepted by customs boats or the navy. The supply is constant.” Greenpeace words, not mine. We are tacitly involved in this blackmarket as buyers.
p.s. My contraband ciggie analogy refers to the fact that when one bans or over-regulate commerce of anything really, blackmarket happens. Because it’s lucrative. And we are certainly not blameless, as we are buyers.
of course, Singapore is not blameless.
in the cigarette analogy, it is illegal to buy, sell or smoke contraband.
likewise, Singapore and construction companies should not buy or use illegal sand.
shows time again that lhl govt is double standard.
that guy is not pm level material.
put him up there cause singapore to be a red sea. prices rising every time.
[i]
likewise, Singapore and construction companies should not buy or use illegal sand.[/i]
will you ever be a contractor kachangputeh or not? in your opinion we should be biased honese and eithical on buyin legal sands…
do you know the market price for a bunch of legal sands..have you ever get a quotation from leekuanyew’s inc hdb liscened sand price?
try before you tender your contracts…not after…
simpLEE because by then you would had faced bankruptcy and wind up your contracts BEFORE you even finished your project..and if you are still blurred..no payment will be made if your tender contract is UNFINISHED..as a legal p[oint of view temasek/hdb inc will SUED your a s s off even if you volunteer to wind up your unfinished business/contract..
it so easy to pick a song from the karoki songlist in a karaoki pub…
but onced you asked for the check..you would have a heart attack when you see all the PLUS plus from teajugs to towels versus PEANUTs…
//contraDICK
if nobody do their business, HDB will have to fold tto.
@ contradick
have you ever been into an operating theatre or not? have you ever been a hetero/homosexual or not? have you ever been an MP or not? have you ever been a pm or not? have you ever run the hdb or not?
NO???? then how do you know what kind of obstacles or difficulties these people face in discharging their duties? huh? shouldn’t then you just shut up and sit down, instead of kpkb in toc?
all professionals are paid to solve problems within confines of LAW, not find excuses. LAW is law, double standard is double-standard. even a child can spot that. even if you have to bend over and resign to breaking law, it does not make it less dishonourable just because you can’t find any way!
@mon
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/50515-only-10-loads-of-sand-to-singapore-daily-says-customs
According to the article, Malaysia customs say sand exports are not outright banned…
“Transporting sand from Malaysia to Singapore is not illegal provided those involved have the necessary valid document.. . On Thursday, the RMC clarified that only silica, quartz and sea sand need licences for export. River sand and sand from mining areas are not subject to prohibited export conditions.”
So it it not fully banned as we are led to believed. But if it was protrayed as such, it will be much easier to blame Singapore. Given the inconsistencies of facts, I will take the article with a pinch of salt.
I concede to the fact I misread/made a factual error as the Telegraph article stated “recent bans on exporting sand introduced in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have cut off supplies and opened up a thriving smuggling trade”. There was no mention of Malaysia. That assumption was mine, not the articles’.
But it is fact that the dredging and exportation of marine/coastal sand from Malaysia is banned.
The article also was careful to credit (allege) where credit (allegation) is due i.e. “According to Malaysia’s former prime minister, 700 lorries a day loaded”
The Business Times article you linked, RW, also state that it’s 10 loads per day, overland, strict permits. I’ll reiterate the the second user’s comment from your link - “Yes. 10 lorries but how many barges?”
But then again, 10 lorries, BT (cough! SPH! cough!) and “The Star” article I read seem to carry the same tune, “This is the average figure we recorded daily from Jan 1-20″
What? There’s no database/or annual record of permits for exported goods out?” – why not quote that?
“On Thursday, the RMC clarified that only silica, quartz and sea sand need licences for export. River sand and sand from mining areas are not subject to prohibited export conditions.”
So what is recorded when it comes to 10 lorries per day? Those with special export license? Do they not track the exportation of permitted river sandwithout export license? What is the restriction/quota from Malaysia then? What’s the correlating data on Singapore Customs side? Malaysia has much to gain politically by declaring 10 trucks, lest there be an political outcry we suck their resources, I suppose?
So we get it that marine sand is restricted due to environmental concerns and we’re still culprit/buyer. But what’s the quota on overland sand? That article is murkier than a sand barge at sea which leaves one with more questions than answers. It’s a loudhailer article : Nothing to see here folks, only 10 trucks a day! Move along!
I’ll take that the article with a pinch of… mmm… sand.
Interestingly…
“Although sand has been exported to Singapore for almost a quarter of a century, Indonesia has seen little benefit.
An estimated 60 percent of the actual trade is thought to have been moved through illegal operations involving well-connected players at both ends. Sand smuggling, mostly by Singaporean-owned dredgers, became worse after the downfall of Suharto, with whom Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, had a close personal relationship. ”
[more here] http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20070102/070131-2.htm
Don’t you just miss those rolling good times when we’re chums with Suharto?
urgh. sorry if what I wrote is hard to read.
My formatting sucks and I swear the Internets ate my paragraphs. Bad Internets!
Have I been missing something – did I read anywhere that our marine police caught or detained any sand-smuggling barges?
[i]
tigger
Feb 22, 2010 16:37
@ contradick
have you ever been into an operating theatre or not? have you ever been a hetero/homosexual or not? have you ever been an MP or not? have you ever been a pm or not? have you ever run the hdb or not?
NO???? then how do you know what kind of obstacles or difficulties these people face in discharging their duties? huh? shouldn’t then you just shut up and sit down, instead of kpkb in toc?
all professionals are paid to solve problems within confines of LAW, not find excuses. LAW is law, double standard is double-standard. even a child can spot that. even if you have to bend over and resign to breaking law, it does not make it less dishonourable just because you can’t find any way![/i]
which ministers here is a professional?
which police commisoner here is a professional
last but not least which judge here make an honourable judge?
cared to name us ONE just one will do…
[i]
mon
Feb 22, 2010 16:14 //contraDICK
if nobody do their business, HDB will have to fold tto.[/i]
remembered marine parade upgradin project when the contractor went bankrupt? not enough money to buy fireproof doors..makin all the marine parade hdb owners doorless for quite some time..who was the MP for marine parade @ THAT time?
non other than the prime minister himself..no not a LEE..gochoktongue or mr peanut himself…
//contraDICK
were the doors replaced?
How come this is not reported?
If what you say is true, it shows even if you have a PM in your wards, things can still cock up.
But if you have the alternative media then, you will see much faster reaction at that time.
Remember those homeless in Sembawang Park. They were relocated in less than 2 weeks.
//RW
Then why is there a lot of noise over sands export? if what was bought was not illegal?
@mon
maybe i’m out of touch.. but i don’t remember seeing any conflict between singapore and its neighbours over sand of late. in fact, there is some talk that indonesia is considering lifting the ban on sand. all we are going by is the daily telegraph which is a uk based newspaper and is not read much in our neighbouring countries. i’m not too sure if that is a gd barometer of their sentiment or the level of noise.
but then again, i don’t follow their news, so i stand to be corrected.
@PollocksPaintDrip
//Although sand has been exported to Singapore for almost a quarter of a century, Indonesia has seen little benefit.//
hahha… indonesia definitely benefits, the qns is who. actually some people were saying that the sand extraction was not so much an environmental problem during suharto’s time. then, it was just a problem of rents and corruption because he had control how much to extract. now it’s so messy, everyone does it, devolving into a tragedy of commons and an environmental problem.
the truth is sg will turn a blind eye to things that they would directly benefit. the sand thing already a well known thing even in vietnam. sg is a selfish country, we dont think much for environment or even its people.
yeah, yeah RW. Someone definitely benefitted. Unfortunately, we know it’s not Indonesia (the official country) that the article refers to. Common knowledge that Suharto-era was party time for cronies and friends to siphon off the revenues of oil, gas and name-your-mineral-du-jour.
I will agree with you that Suharto’s clout and control made corruption systemic (and systematic), and that spun out of control when he lost power. But it’s always the case that the resource rich nations are the ones susceptible to corruption as there’s so much to be made off the land, for the benefit of a few.
I am one of those old timers that used to think Sg land size is 640 and i failed in the query of Sg new size. Does it means i am not a citizen since i cannot even answer a simple question?
NGOs like GreenPeace are created by Westerners out to exercise their colonial control of Asia. Note the English that they use ‘picturesque sandy beaches’. What a load of bull because the dredgers will be grounded. They are trying to arouse attention because it is a threat to such beaches.
Anyway, Singapore is so small! Most of our reclamation was done earlier and most of hills were bull-dosed to backfill the land. They try to give the impression that 20% of Singapore’s land area is taken from ‘pictures beaches’
Singapore pays for every grain of sand we imported for reclamation and construction. Our neighbours have so much of them that it is a non issue because Singapore can only take a little bit relative to their size. We simply have no place for them.
These Western NGOs think they are God and created falsehood for their own ends and preference. They like to create frictions amongst peaceful states.
I just read another NGO ‘Australian Tibetan Council’ with similar such aims to cause problem to China. Maybe we should learn from them and form a ‘Australian Aboriginal Council’ to free them from the whites.
Don’t forget also that buying sand from overseas is expensive. Singapore has been dredging our own waters and the dredged materials are used to reclaim some of our land. We are offering to dredge the Pahang River mouth for free as long as we can have the materials for more land fills.
These are win-win co-operation.
Don’t forget also we had dug up alot of tunnels for roads, MRT lines and Deep Tunnel sewage systems. These projects yield a lot of material for landfills.
Malaysia ban sand because of Mahathir. He was just simply jealous. Indonesia is slightly different because Jakarta and the Riaus cannot agree on how the proceeds from the sale of sand are to be shared. Cambodia, Vietnam etc are just succumbing to the exaggerated reporting of Greenpeace NGOs. I hope the mad guy who interfered with the Japanese whalers will be jailed for arrogance.