BARNEY HENDERSON, KUALA LUMPUR
The Age (Australia)
SINGAPORE has been accused of launching a clandestine ''sand war'' against its neighbours by paying smugglers to steal entire beaches under the cover of night.
The island city-state's size has increased more than 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 in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have cut supplies and opened up a thriving smuggling trade.
Thieves have begun making night-time raids on the beaches of Indonesia and Malaysia, carving out millions of tonnes of coastline and leading to fears of an environmental catastrophe.
Singapore's land developers are now pitted against environmental groups, which 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 smugglers have no problem getting it into Singapore and these boats are rarely intercepted by customs boats or the navy.''
The Singapore government has declined to comment, but corruption has been blamed for much of the trade.
Last month, 34 Malaysian civil servants were arrested for accepting bribes and sexual favours to facilitate sand smuggling to Singapore.
The main motorway from Malaysia to Singapore was blocked for most of the day last Monday when 37 lorries loaded with sand were abandoned after their drivers learnt of a customs operation at the border.
According to Malaysia's former prime minister, 700 lorries a day loaded with sand cross the border to Singapore.
The island city-state's size has increased more than 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 in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have cut supplies and opened up a thriving smuggling trade.
Thieves have begun making night-time raids on the beaches of Indonesia and Malaysia, carving out millions of tonnes of coastline and leading to fears of an environmental catastrophe.
Singapore's land developers are now pitted against environmental groups, which 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 smugglers have no problem getting it into Singapore and these boats are rarely intercepted by customs boats or the navy.''
The Singapore government has declined to comment, but corruption has been blamed for much of the trade.
Last month, 34 Malaysian civil servants were arrested for accepting bribes and sexual favours to facilitate sand smuggling to Singapore.
The main motorway from Malaysia to Singapore was blocked for most of the day last Monday when 37 lorries loaded with sand were abandoned after their drivers learnt of a customs operation at the border.
According to Malaysia's former prime minister, 700 lorries a day loaded with sand cross the border to Singapore.
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