A new report from Global Witness alleges that exports of sand to Singapore are devastating Cambodia. The press release is as follows:
Singapore’s rapid expansion is driving an
ecologically and socially devastating sand-dredging industry in
Cambodia, according to a new report released today by Global Witness. This booming
trade is being monopolised by two prominent Cambodian
Senators with close ties to Prime Minster Hun Sen – despite a supposed
government ban on sand exports.
The Global Witness report Shifting
Sand: how Singapore’s demand for Cambodian sand threatens ecosystems
and undermines good governance reveals that:
- Cambodian Senators Mong Reththy and Ly Yong
Phat have been awarded sand extraction licences behind closed doors,
gaining control of an industry worth millions of dollars – but there is no
evidence of any revenues reaching Cambodia’s state
coffers. Both have been implicated in dubious land deals and forced
evictions, and have recently been criticised for sponsoring units of Cambodia’s
armed forces. This points to the increasing stranglehold of Cambodia’s
kleptocratic elite on its natural resources, replicating a pattern of
corruption, cronyism, and rights abuses previously found in the
forestry sector and extractive industries.
- Cambodia’s sand-dredging industry poses a
huge risk to its coastal environment, threatening endangered species,
fish stocks and local livelihoods. There is no evidence that basic
environmental safeguards have been applied, with boats reportedly turning up and
dredging sand, often in protected areas, with no local consultation. All this
makes a mockery of the government’s supposed May 2009 ban on sand-dredging.
- This trade is driven by Singapore.
The city state was the world’s largest importer of sand in 2008. It has
used sand imports to increase its landmass by 22% since the 1960s. This
project has wreaked havoc on the region’s coastlines, with Malaysia,
Vietnam and Indonesia having
all now announced bans on sand dredging for export due to environmental
concerns.
“This situation highlights the continued failure of Cambodia’s
international donors to use their leverage to hold the small elite
surrounding the Prime Minister to account,” said George Boden,
campaigner at Global Witness. “Cambodia’s natural
resource wealth should be lifting its population out of poverty.
Instead, international aid has propped up basic services in Cambodia
for over 15 years, providing the equivalent of 50% of the government
budget. Meanwhile, money from natural resources disappears into private bank
accounts, and nearly 70% of the population subsists on less than $2 a day.”
Global Witness’ investigation tracked
boats being loaded with sand in Cambodia to their destinations
in Singapore.
It also uncovered contracts linking Singaporean companies to Cambodia’s
sand industry. In June this year, Singapore will host the World
Cities Summit, which promotes ‘sustainable and liveable cities’.
“Singapore says that the import of
sand is a purely commercial activity but it also presents itself as a
regional leader on environmental issues,” said Boden. “The country’s failure to
mitigate the social and ecological cost of sand dredging represents hypocrisy on a
grand scale. If Singapore
wants its environmental stance to be taken seriously, monitoring where
the sand is sourced and what is being done to obtain it would be an obvious place
to start.”
In response, the Cambodian government says there is “not a grain of truth” in the “malicious and misleading claims” by “international trouble-maker” Global Witness. Their press statement is available here.
