PHNOM PENH, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government issued a directive signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Friday to ban sand export for the sake of environmental protection.
"In order to protect the balance of nature and environment in areas of sea and fresh water, the government has decided to allow sand business to meet domestic demand only," said the directive.
After examination by experts, sand dredging is only allowed in places where the balance of nature can be restored or water flow is obstructed, it said.
Meanwhile, the directive "terminates any sand export to foreign countries," too.
The Committee of Sand Management has to check sand trade immediately, and report all the involved institutions to the premier, it added.
According to local reports, Cambodia used to export 40,000 to 50,000 tons of sand per month from its coastal province of Koh Kong, and the annual value of this business stood at 35 million U.S. dollars.
Vietnam and Singapore were the major destination countries.
While sand business boomed, sand dredging frequently caused riverbanks and houses to collapse along the Mekong River and the Tonle Bassac River.
"In order to protect the balance of nature and environment in areas of sea and fresh water, the government has decided to allow sand business to meet domestic demand only," said the directive.
After examination by experts, sand dredging is only allowed in places where the balance of nature can be restored or water flow is obstructed, it said.
Meanwhile, the directive "terminates any sand export to foreign countries," too.
The Committee of Sand Management has to check sand trade immediately, and report all the involved institutions to the premier, it added.
According to local reports, Cambodia used to export 40,000 to 50,000 tons of sand per month from its coastal province of Koh Kong, and the annual value of this business stood at 35 million U.S. dollars.
Vietnam and Singapore were the major destination countries.
While sand business boomed, sand dredging frequently caused riverbanks and houses to collapse along the Mekong River and the Tonle Bassac River.
4 comments:
This is an excellent decision on the part of the RGOC. It stops contracts with foreign company's that wanted to export sand which would have certainly had a dramatic effect on the Khmer coastline. In the end the RGOC stepped up and acted in the interest of Cambodia over private exploitation.
So is he admitting that ''Global Witness'' was right.
After filling his pockets full with corruption money!
it's about time for cambodia to realize the destruction to our country by sand dredging and ban it permanently. go figure, the sands were import to vietnam and singapore, which both are over populated and lack sands, etc. it was all about greedy individuals wanted to make money from using and destroying cambodia's natural resources like sands, trees, etc... i'm glad the prime minister put into law for them to stop completely. you know, cambodia can use our own sands for construction projects in our country, we don't have to export sands and other raw materials to foreign countries anymore. sands can be used to make glasses, building materials, etc, inside of our country, cambodia. we don't need to export it to youn and singapore. no more export! i'm glad khmer people are educated to understand this issue crucial in our own country. thank you and god bless cambodia.
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