Regulated sand mining poses no threat to the riverbank says Mines Ministry

• 29 January 2020
• Local News
• 4875 Views

The Ministry of Mines and Energy condemned a recent report regarding the potential of the Mekong riverbank collapsing due to excessive sand mining, arguing that the mining volume in Cambodia is remarkably low and under strict technical regulation.

The condemnation comes in response to research done by the University of Southampton, which discovered that the Mekong riverbanks, especially in Cambodia, are prone to collapsing due to excessive sand mining driven by the high demand for sand in the construction sector. (Read more)

In this regard, Ung Dipola, Deputy Director-General of the General Department of Mineral Resources, exclusively clarified with Construction Property Magazine, that the Ministry currently only issues only 30 licenses for sand mining businesses, which is very few compared to the length of the river.

In addition, the location provided by the Ministry is technically appropriate and causes no harm to the riverbanks.

“If we combine all the licenses, we might get a mining area of only approximately 30 kilometres long, which is very minor compared to the 500-kilometre-long section of the Mekong River running through Cambodia. This accounts for only about 6 percent of the river length,” said Mr Ung Dipola.

“Furthermore, all the mining sites are not adjacent. Rather, they are spread out all over the river, especially to only areas with a high level of sand at the riverbed. More importantly, the sites are always away from the riverbank, infrastructures, as well as people’s homes. Thus, it causes no threat to the riverbank,” he added.

Nonetheless, when the analysis is done using river flow theory, sand mining indeed can potentially help prevent riverbanks collapsing if they are done according to river condition and accurate technique.

“Naturally, if there is sand replenished on one side of the bank, the other side will collapse. Thus, mining at the side with the high level of sand will help lessen the flow of water to the other side bank and result in reducing the risk of collapsing. This is what we [the Ministry] are doing, especially the river section nearby Sokha Hotel and in Rokar Kong district,” Mr Dipola said.

“Besides, sand mining can also help open the waterway in the area that is covered by too much sand, as well as help contribute to the national income through tax,” he added.

He also claimed that the riverbank collapsing is more likely a natural phenomenon, rather than from sand mining.

“From the border of Laos to the border of Vietnam, many riverbanks have collapsed even though there are no sand mining activities nearby. Thus, riverbank collapse is mainly a natural phenomenon,” he added.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy data, Cambodia extracts between 7 and 8 million cubic metres of sand each year from the Mekong River, which according to Mr Dipola, is less than the amount of sand that is replenished by the river’s natural processes. This can be seen by many new islands appearing in the Mekong river recently.

Despite the currently regulated mining businesses, the Ministry also pledges to continue inspecting Mekong river depths and sand mining activities every three months, to ensure sustainable mining, meaning having the least impact on the environment.

The Ministry also announced a hotline on 095 727 727 for people to report any illegal mining.

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