Who Gains Benefits from Sea Sand Export

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - De-bureaucratization characterizes the government of Joko Widodo. Regulations and rules involving the livelihood of the majority are promptly issued. Old rules that have long stalled in the past are appearing at lightning speed. It is like Government Regulation No. 26/2023 on the sea sediment management issued in the middle of last month.

The idea to make this rule had long been there, since the early 2000s, especially after the trade minister no longer allowed sea sand exports. Sea sand mining was even prohibited in the Law on the Management of Coastal Regions and Small Islands in 2007. After its ups and downs and a tug-of-war, in the second period of the Jokowi administration the regulation has finally been passed.

The title has changed. Formerly it was the sea sand utilization. If this name had been maintained, rejection would indeed have immediately emerged. Sea sand mining and exports were then banned because of the massive destructive effect on our ecosystem of the sea and its waters. Moreover, poor management made those responsible for the damage escape legal processing.

But the new name of the regulation does not change its substance. Although it is termed the utilization of sea sediments, it still deals with sea sand for the development of infrastructure, reclamation, even for exports. What is its impact?

We will return to the period of two decades ago. In fact, we rely on our sea and waters for the mitigation of any climate crisis. Mangroves and seagrass in the blue carbon ecosystem absorb greenhouse gas emissions fivefold compared with forestland’s carbon absorption. If dredged, the carbon trapped there would certainly evaporate into the atmosphere and trigger graver global warming.

It seems that this scientific review was not considered in the formulation of Government Regulation No. 26/2023. Let alone such baffling things as the greenhouse gas and global warming, even the basic data on sedimentation, the total area and the potential for sand mining are not yet convincing. Then who will benefited by this new regulation?

We analyze many things behind the government regulation’s appearance. They range from the tug-of-war, the major players engaged in this business to the negative impact on the environment. So, de-bureaucratization does not always support a clean government. This is even more the case if the de-bureaucratization only concerns rules that merely benefit those in power and their supporters.

Apart from sea sand mining, we also deal with the fate of Anies Baswedan as the 2024 presidential candidate. With the various legal cases that hamper politicians of his supporting parties, he would likely lose the support of parties serving as his ticket to run for the election. There is also a report about the use of spying equipment prone to abuse that could threaten human rights due to weak regulation and oversight in Indonesia.

Happy reading.

Bagja Hidayat

Executive Editor

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