By Denis D. Gray
BANGKOK (AP)— Cambodia is devastating its coast by dredging vast quantities of sand to sell to tiny Singapore for expansion projects, with multimillion-dollar profits going to tycoons close to the Cambodian prime minister, a watchdog group said Tuesday.
Impoverished Cambodia has become the new prime source of the masses of sand used for projects to artificially enlarge Singapore's island territory now that several other Southeast Asian nations — including Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam — have banned sand exports because of environmental concerns.
Singapore has increased its surface area by 20 per cent in recent decades by filling in coastal seabeds to create new, valuable waterfront ground, a process known as "land reclamation."
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