The government has officially formed a Sand Resource Management Committee with the aim of monitoring the operations of Cambodia’s notorious sand mining industry.
Responsible for ensuring “efficiency, sustainability and inclusivity” in the industry, the committee – established on August 31 – is composed of eight ministries and the Secretary of State for Border Affairs.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MWRM) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) are the principal ministries in the working group, both holding the two highest positions in the committee.
The sub-decree, the official document that authorized the creation of the committee, specifies that its primary role is to monitor the business activities of sand excavation companies related to water resources and dredging. The committee is also tasked with recommending immediate action, through its governing body, the MME, in cases of non-compliant or illegal mining.
In terms of funding and resources, the committee is financed through a portion allocated from the MWRM’s annual budget.
While the committee has been welcomed by environmentalists and communities near dredging sites, these groups are calling for it to operate with full transparency.
The inauguration also comes after an expansion in extraction licenses, including one granted to a firm previously centered in riverbank collapses.
Ung Dipola, director-general of the Department of Mineral Resources within the MME and Chan Yutha, spokesperson for the MWRM did not answer phone calls nor questions related to the committee and the sand mining sector sent via Telegram.
Khvay Atiya, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, said the ministry could not comment since it had not initiated the establishment of the committee.
Chen Sovannrin, 38, a resident of the Roka Kpous commune, located about 20 kilometers south of Phnom Penh along the Bassac River, told CamboJA News that he hopes the committee will ensure transparency and enforce stringent regulations on the sand mining industry.
“It is good to have a committee to solve this problem, but we are living along the river more or less and we worry about the future if our houses collapse, ” he said.
In April 2023, dozens of houses were destroyed in Sovannrin’s commune after riverbanks collapsed following years of dredging in the area.
Another riparian resident concerned about sand evacuation near her home, Non Srey Mao, 34, from Ta Khmao city, Kandal province, stated that in May 2023, she and other residents submitted a letter to the Ministry of Interior requesting intervention in the sand dredging along the Bassac River, which they believed was impacting the integrity of their homes.
There have been cases of houses along the river in Ta Khmao city collapsing, according to Srey Mao who also said these were victims of sand mining.
She went on to say that the establishment of the Sand Resource Management Committee is “a good thing”, but “please be transparent and take strict action against any business owner who does not respect the law and affects the lives of people near the river.”
Prior to the formation of the committee, in January 2024, the MME asked citizens living near sand dredging sites to notify the ministry with a phone call if they suspected misconduct from excavators.
The industry’s bureaucratic reprisals follow years of mounting criticism over environmental degradation, corruption and lack of transparency.
In particular, sand mining from politically connected companies have been blamed for the collapses of riverbanks along the Mekong and Bassac rivers.
The Cambodian government imposed a ban on sand exports in 2017 but lifted it in 2020. However, data from COMTRADE, the U.N. trade statistics database, indicates that exports persisted throughout 2019.
In 2022, Cambodia exported more than 6.1 million tons of sand with a trade value worth more than $38 million, according to the most recent data available on COMTRADE.
This year, it appears Cambodia has ramped up dredging activities to supply international demand.
In June, two months prior to the formulation of the management committee, Vietnam approached Cambodia about increasing sand imports from its neighbor to supply new development projects.
Subsequently, three companies were granted licenses from the MME – the newly minted chair of the committee – to extract 1.39 billion tons of sand from the Mekong and Bassac Rivers
Chaktomuk Campuchia, Sok Theara, and Global Green Energy Development are the three companies permitted by the government to mine sand from these two rivers.
Currently, Chaktomuk Cambodia Company supplies 15 to 20 Vietnamese businesses with 40,000 to 60,000 cubic meters of sand every day, according to local media in Vietnam. Global Green Energy Development exports around 10,000 cubic meters to two Vietnamese development companies each day.
Global Green Energy Development’s prior mining activities in the commune of Roka Korng have been linked to the area’s river bank collapses. The company was formerly led by Try Dalin, daughter of sanctioned timber baron Try Pheap.
According to Ministry of Commerce records, the company is now directed by Hann Sinath, who is reported to maintain close ties with the Pheap family, as reported by the environmental news organization Mongabay.
CamboJA News attempted to contact the number listed as Hann Sinath’s on the profile page for Global Green Energy Development in the Ministry of Commerce’s business registration portal, but the number was not active.
CamboJA News was able to contact a number listed under one of the firm’s registered offices, where an individual identified himself as an administrator of Try Pheap Group. When asked if Global Green Energy Development was part of the group, he denied it. The email address associated with the registered office was also under the Try Pheap Group domain.
Meanwhile, concerns about the transparency and oversight provided by the watchdog committee have grown alongside the increasing volumes of sand exports to Vietnam.
“[The commission] needs to be highly transparent – transparent in how it monitors operations and disseminates reports on export volumes and finances,” said Heng Kimhong, president of the Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), an organization promoting sustainable development and rule of law in Cambodia.
Kim Hong added that the commission should focus on closely reporting sand export data and ensuring that people can voice their concerns openly.
(Additional reporting by Tep Soukeany and Ly Rosslan)
