Premier orders to halt extraction of sea sand

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has ordered the competent authorities to stop extracting sand, and to prevent operations in the marine areas north of Muharraq and in the Jarada Island until a study on the impacts of digging and sand dredging on the marine environment is conducted.

The order is in line with HRH Premier’s keenness to preserve the marine environment and the wildlife and ensure that they are not damaged. It is also part of HRH the Prime Minister’s interest in and follow-up on all issues related to the citizens. The directive follows appeals by sailors and diving enthusiasts about fears that some marine areas may be affected by sand suction activities. Sand mining is eroding the world’s river deltas and coastlines, damaging the environment and hurting livelihoods from Cambodia to Colombia, as government regulation fails to keep pace with rising demand, the United Nations had warned in its recent report.

Global demand for sand and gravel, used extensively in construction, is about 50 billion tonnes or an average of 18 kg per person per day, according to a report published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Extraction in rivers and beaches has increased pollution and flooding, lowered groundwater levels, hurt marine life, and exacerbated the occurrence and severity of landslides and drought, it said.

“We are spending our sand ‘budget’ faster than we can produce it responsibly,” Joyce Msuya, UNEP’s acting executive director, said in a statement. “For one of the most traded commodities on the planet, it is one of the least regulated activities, and there is very low general awareness about extraction impacts.”