Moch. N. Kurniawan and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government must ban sand dredging in the waters off Riau as the activity has caused damaged to the marine environment and huge losses to the state, a House of Representatives hearing with a minister concluded on Monday.

Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim said his office could not stand idly by given the current level of environmental damage being caused.

"Stop it! We must carry out an environmental impact assessment to ensure that our environment will not be damaged before allowing the dredging to proceed," Nabiel told the hearing with House Commission VIII on, among others things, science, technology and the environment.

The commission strongly supported Nabiel's stance.

According to Nabiel, the relevant ministries had so far talked of a possible ban on sand mining, but had yet to reach any decision.

Separately, Director General of Defense Strategy at the Ministry of Defense Maj. Gen. Sudrajat said that sand exports to Singapore for its reclamation work would not affect the 12-mile continental borderline, nor pave the way for the neighboring country to expand its territory.

Speaking during a hearing with House of Representatives' Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs on Monday, Sudrajat, however, said "the sand exports will affect Singapore's 200-mile exclusive economic zone".

Sudrajat was responding to the legislators' questions about whether the export of the sand from Indonesia to Singapore for the latter's coastal reclamation projects would expand the territory of the city state.

"We have several times asked for a serious conversation with Singapore about how the exclusive economic zone may be affected due to the reclamation process. But thus far, they (Singapore) have yet to respond," Sudrajat said.

Exports of sand to Singapore have become rampant as the government quietly issued a presidential decree in May allowing the activity.

The decree in May revoked an earlier regulation issued in February to temporarily ban sand dredging and exports in response to protests from environmentalists.

Several small islands have reportedly disappeared and coral reefs destroyed due to the widespread sand dredging, both legal and illegal, following the May decree.

Under Presidential Decree No. 33/2002, sea sand mining was to be controlled and supervised by the central government through a special team led by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

The decree states that all sand exports require a permit from the central government, via the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

A special government team is also expected to take measures to help protect the marine environment, including through zoning mechanisms.

Since the presidential decree was issued, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has issued 71 licenses to sand exporters, and 3.7 million cubic meters of sand has been exported to Singapore from Riau.

Singapore is estimated to require some 1.8 billion cubic meters of sand over the next eight years for its land reclamation work.

Riau has been exporting sand to Singapore for many years. The sand is sold at S$1.5 per cubic meter to international brokers, who then sell the sand to Singapore construction firms for S$15 per cubic meter.