MEDIA RELEASE
INDONESIAN LAND SAND EXPORT BAN IS UNLIKELY TO SLOW
CONSTRUCTION WORKS IN SINGAPORE
1.
Indonesia has announced a ban on concreting sand (land sand) exports.
According to the Indonesian Minister of Trade, this ban is being imposed
because of environmental reasons and to protect Indonesia's borders. The ban
took effect from 23 January 2007, but the Indonesian government has given
exporters up to 5 February 2007 to honour existing sand export contracts.
2.
Singapore is disappointed with Indonesia’s decision. Singapore Ministers
had earlier raised this issue with their Indonesian counterparts, and expressed
Singapore's preparedness to work with Indonesia to address their concerns. We
regret that Indonesia did not take up our offer to address those concerns.
3.
Although Singapore is one of the largest importers of concreting sand from
Indonesia, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has assessed that the
ban is unlikely to slow construction works in Singapore.
4.
Land sand is used in the construction industry to produce concrete, which
is used in the construction of buildings and structures. BCA’s assessment is that
the Indonesian ban will not have a significant impact, as there are alternative
sources of land sand to meet our construction needs.
5.
For example, as part of its on-going efforts to diversify its supply of basic
construction materials, HDB has started procuring concreting sand from other
sources in the region, outside Indonesia.
The industry can also tap on these
new sources to meet their concreting sand requirements. BCA will continue to
work with the industry to open up new supply sources.
6.
The Government will also release sand from its stockpile if necessary to
meet any temporary shortage resulting from the disruption of supply from
Indonesia. BCA will be briefing the industry on how this will be done.
7.
For the longer term, BCA is working closely with the industry to reduce the
need for concreting sand in construction.
In the past few years, we have
explored suitable substitutes for sand in concrete. We have also been promoting
the use of alternative construction materials and methods. There has been
encouraging progress. For example, many residential projects are now using dry
walls instead of concrete or brick walls.
8.
We are also encouraging a more extensive use of steel, which is currently
more common for high-rise building structures, for all building types. Such a shift
towards less concrete based construction will help advance Singapore’s
construction industry towards a “Sustainable Construction”, one that adopts the
greater use of more renewable materials and more environmentally friendly
methods of construction.
This is the trend in countries such as the United
Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
Issued by:
Ministry of National Development
Building and Construction Authority
Date of Issue:
24 January 2007