River sand mining
None of us can deny the fact that sand has become a vital part of modern life, in Cambodia and throughout the world. Sand brings us roads, bridges, homes, schools, hospitals, and countless other commodities without which our modern lifestyles would be simply impossible. As Cambodia is in the midst of the modernization of its economy and society, there is little doubt as to whether our country needs sand to improve our society. The problem, however, arises when its extraction is done not based on scientific reasongin, let alone research, and in a way that takes little consideration towards the environment, or the local communities. This problem is exacerbated by two facts: one that most of it is being extracted from the vital Mekong River and its major tributaries, from which hundreds of thousands of families depend; and two, that most of the extraction does not appear to be benefiting average Cambodians, as it is being used to construct high-rise apartment complexes propping up in the capital of Phnom Penh (which the vast majority of Cambodians can not afford to live in). Though the sector's total lack of transparency makes hard to have a detailed idea of things, we believe that around half of the millions of tons that are being extracted are being used to fill in lakes in and around the capital of Phnom Penh, a practice that carries massive environmental damage and that has dubious - to use a mild word - aims. The impacts of this out controlextraction are huge and all too evident: farms, houses, people's lands, even roads, are literally falling into the river. Fisheries - already under threat due to over-fishing and dam construction upstream, continues to decrease alarmingly, not just in the Mekong and adjacent Tonle Basaac but also in the Tonle Sab lake, which played a vital role in the rise of the Angkor Empire and is the largest freshwater lake in South East, as well as one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world.
The arguments given by the ministry in charge of the extraction, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, are as follows: that Cambodia needs sand to develop its economy, and that the dredging is benefitial as it makes the rivers more navigable and 'less prone to river bank collapses'. The main problem with the latter arguments is that they are based on a big fat lie: the only people who benefit from a deeper and thus more 'navigable' Mekong River are the barges that are transpoting the sand; and to allege that the massive extraction of sand is actually helping reduce river bank collapses is outright laughable. If it weren't for the fact that people living next to major rivers are suffering greatly, the explanation by the Hun Sen regime behind this massive extraction would be seen as a very funny joke.
Communities living on or near the river banks have seen over the last ten years or so - note, when the current construction boom really took off - how incidences of river bank collapses in and around their communities started becoming much worse.
A report released in January 2020 by the University of Southampton (link) mentions how the amount of river sand being extracted from the Mekong River is 7 times more than what could be seen as sustainable. Not unsurprisngly then, this is leading to widespread river bank collapses all across the river. And with these collapses come the loss of people's homes, farm land, temples, infrastructure such as roads,etc.
Not that the Hun Sen dictatorship has ever been known for its transparency in the mining sector, but the level of secrecy in the extraction of river sand around Phnom Penh is even worse than that seen in the extraction of other minerals. There are simply zero official figures available for what companies are involved, how much are these paying to the state in taxes / royalties, how much is being extracted, etc.
It is widely believed that more than 50% of the sand that is being extracted out of the 3 three main rivers around Phnom Penh: the Mekong, the Tonle Sab, and the Tonle Basac, is actually being used to fill in lakes, rather than for concrete. The capital has now lost most of its lakes - and is in the process of losing the remaining ones (link) - to make way for new 'satellite cities', with little regard to what impacts (e.g., flooding in the monsoon) this practice ius causing;
We first got involved in this issue in early 2017, when some of our own activists were concerned that their own farmlands would possibly also end up falling onto the river unless nearby out of control sand dredging was reigned in. We soon started visiting the district of Sa'ang, in Kandal province, right on the banks of the Tonle Basaac river, a major tributary of the Mekong and a mere 45-minute motorbike drive away from the capital. Massive dredging barges were anchored right next to the banks of the river, pumping out sand 24/7, with local communities complaining about unbearable noise pollution. If that was not enough, houses, people's backyards, even parts of the village's main road, were literally collapsing onto the river. Visits to other communities along the Mekong river showed us that the problem was not an isolated case, and that similarities existed in many other communities where dredging was also taking place up and down the Mekong and the Tonle Basaac rivers. While some of our activists concentrated on telling people what their rights truly were, others worked on disclosing their plight through short and catchy videos aimed at Cambodian social-media users. Communities there soon rallied behind our activists, with peaceful protests soon propping up, demanding that the dredgers move away from the river banks, that villagers are properly informed and given the chance to participate bin the decision-making process, and that the relevant government agencies start making public what income was being generated through taxes and royalties. Our videos were also shared and picked up widely, reaching hundreds of thousands of Cambodians. Independent media, at least what little of it was left back then, started reporting on the issue. In what sadly is a not-at-all unusual modus operandi by the Hun Sen regime, reaction was systematic, swift, gangster-like, and ultimately aimed at protecting the status quo, which basically means ensuring that the dredging does not slow down one tiny bit. That unfortunately meant arresting and harassing peaceful protesters and activists exposing the true impacts of the dredging. One of our media activists was arrested for a full day for flying a drone over one of the mining sites (though flying a drone in a public place such as a river does not break any Cambodian laws). Local community leaders from Sa'ang were summonsed to appear in court on charges that they had committed “incitement” and for allegedly damaging property belonging to a sand dredging company operating in the area. The Ministry of Mines and Energy, which oversees all mining activities in the country, swiftly sent a team of so-called experts to the area to evaluate the impacts the extraction was causing, opened up a 'hot line' and ordered the dredging companies to to stop dredging from too close to the river banks. Needless to say, the team of experts from the Ministry said that the impacts were overall positive, the hot line was a cheap PR move no member of the public in their right mind would dare get involved in, and the companies only partially adhered to the order to stay away from river banks.
ens of other villages where get to know or near(much like the extraction of ther two other kinds of sand mentioned here - buildings provide living near those extraction sites. problem is Cambodia Sand is vital for modern life blah blah but when done like this it harms too much / massive river bank collapse + excuse by the government / repression against activists highlighting the issue / local community leaders dates! / what happens to the sand, what used to happen / lack of transparency (worse than dredging of marine sand / slight difference between pumping and dredging / situation continues / is it fueling construction boom + links to money laundering / expensive homes mostly not for Cambodians unless they are very rich / link to massive impact on fisheries, agriculture, etc as sand + gravel extraction is problem on top of upstream dams, mention Mekong Delta!. / true independent assessment of impacts on Soc and Environment has not been done, no transparency. etc.
