Growing Singapore

An article in Pruned says that Singapore has grown 25% in area since the mid-1960s, but it’s growth has remained a mystery in terms of where the fill sand was harvested to spur its growth. It’s something the government doesn’t address. Some nosy reporters found at least one of the sources: Cambodia’s Tatai River. The reporters didn’t like what they saw:

Lush jungle hills give way to a flotilla of dredgers operating 24 hours a day, scooping up sand and piling it onto ocean-bound barges. The churned-up waters and fuel discharges, villagers say, have decimated the fish so vital to their livelihoods. Riverbanks are beginning to collapse, and the din and pollution are killing a promising ecotourism industry.

The article outlines some of the previous locations of sand piracy.