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  Business Times 10 Feb 07
HDB looking to cut sand usage by 20-30%: Mah
 He also says govt will help bear the higher cost for public projects
By Arthur Sim

THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) can cut the use of sand for construction by as much as 20- 30 per cent, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

'HDB, which is one of the major users, tells me they can reduce the use of sand easily by 20-30 per cent with the use of alternative materials,' he said. 'So they will look at this very seriously.'

Mr Mah was speaking at a news conference after he addressed the Urban Redevelopment Authority's corporate plan seminar.

He revealed at the seminar that HDB has formed a multi-agency task force to brainstorm new ideas and incorporate new technologies and concepts for a total 'urban regeneration' of older estates.

Later at the news conference, Mr Mah said the government will help bear the higher cost for public projects.

How the price of sand will affect plans to regenerate older estates and other building projects will become clear over time, he said. For now, there is plenty of sand in the government's stockpile for 'critical work in the pipeline', Mr Mah said.

And new sources are coming on stream. 'Alternative sources are opening up but the price is higher because of the cost of transport.'

Asked if negotiations on sand between Singapore and Indonesia are still open, he said: 'Before the ban, we actually did touch base with them to try to understand their concerns and offered to work with them to address those concerns. But unfortunately, the ban came about. The offer is still open.'

Mr Mah was also asked to comment on a Feb 3 report in The Jakarta Post that cited a senior Indonesian official linking the ban on sand exports to a border agreement and a bilateral extradition treaty.

On this, Mr Mah said: 'Officially, there were two concerns and one was the environmental concern. On that score, we have tried to understand what their concern was. 'There was some confusion about land sand and sea sand, but the land sand we are talking about is from sources quite far from the boundary, so we could not understand the issue.'

He also added: 'In terms of the environment, we offered to help to address this concern but the offer was not taken up. So we will just let it be and look for alternative sources and cut down the dependence on sand - both in the short term and the more sustainable long-term plan.'
links
Sandy Situation a huge pile of articles about sand, reclamation and Singapore on the leafmonkey blog; also on the environmental news blog

Related articles on Singapore: general environmental issues and wild shores
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