Financial Times

Sea sand long-term option to river sand
By Lenin Amarawickrema
Top conservation experts have reiterated the need to replace river sand with sea sand for construction purposes as a long-term solution after the Supreme Court stopped the issue of licenses for mechanised sand mining until a national policy on sand mining was ready.

The decision by the country’s biggest court was made on August 6 following a rights application filed by a private individual complaining that his license to mine sand adjacent to the Maha Oya had unfairly been cancelled.

Lawyers for the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources told Court that a national water resource policy being formulated would also take the issue of sand mining into consideration, the Environmental Foundation Ltd (EFL), said in a statement.

Extraction of sand by mechanized means has resulted in damage to riverbanks, seepage of saline water to upper rivers and freshwater resources. Restrictions on the extraction of river sand has resulted in sand prices shooting up in recent months impacting on construction costs.

Anura Nanayakkara, a conservation expert and member of the Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI) presenting a paper at a recent CCI annual session said that coastal erosion is only one of many problems caused by unsustainable sand mining in Kelani river, Maha Oya, Kalu ganga and Deduru Oya.

The other problems of river sand mining are collapse of river banks, drying of irrigation channels in the proximity of Deduru Oya, lowering of the water table near rivers, salination of river water affecting drinking water and resulting in health problems.

Nanayakkara raised a number of alternative solutions saying offshore dredging could supply washed sea sand for major constructions such as Colombo-Katunayaka super highway. He pointed out that deploying a sand dredger is a costly job but justified for heavy sea sand mining.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, speaking at the same meeting, said his government was committed to protect the Sri Lankan construction industry.

He said he would act with a firm resolve to ensure that the interests of the different stakeholders in the construction Industry are protected within the constraints imposed by international aid agencies. The main issue here is the influx of foreign contractors and consultants in local projects, which the industry here says can be handled by local expertise.

"While the necessary capacities, know how and technical competence remain available within the National Construction Industry, foreign consultants and contractors have been employed to undertake tasks which Sri Lankan firms and professionals are able to accomplish with excellence," the premier added.

He said this is a fall out from hitching to the international aid system, which Sri Lanka has had to do increasingly in the last 25 years or so.

The Prime Minister observed that Sri Lankan engineers and architects are capable of drawing construction designs that will cost much less to implement than those drawn by foreign consultants and firms. "For instance I have heard it said with authority that the construction costs of the Mahaweli Project, could have been very much lower if the designs had been drawn by Sri Lankan engineers.

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