Sea sand export plan threatens islands and coastal communities – Society

the recent decision by the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to lift a decades-old ban on the export of sea sand has raised concerns that it could threaten the country’s islands and their inhabitants.

The Ministry of Commerce recently issued two ministerial regulations that will allow the export of sea sand, after it was banned for more than 20 years. The ministerial regulations are a derivative of the 2023 Government Regulation (PP) on Marine Sediment Management, which includes a provision allowing Indonesia to export excavated sand.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries later announced that the areas where dredging for export would be allowed include waters off the Natuna Islands in the Riau Islands, where about 9 billion cubic meters of sand could be dredged, accounting for more than half of the total 17 billion cubic meters of sediment potentially mined throughout the archipelago.

Observers say sea sand importers such as Singapore, which uses imported sand for land reclamation, will benefit most from the policy, which goes into effect on October 8.

Jokowi, however, denied that his administration, which ends on October 20, would reopen sea sand exports.

“It’s not sea sand. What we will be exporting is sediment that disrupts the passage of ships through the waters. It looks like sand, but is classified as sediment,” the President said on September 17, quoted by compass.com.

Read also: Java Sea and Natuna waters open to sea sand mining, says the ministry

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