Singapore is considering abandoning its plan to import sand from the country, as the Bangladesh government has not yet responded to its proposition for importing the construction material, said an official Monday.
Moreover, the official said, the Singapore government has asked its department concerned to look for other suitable destinations from where it can import sand shortly to support its booming construction sector.
"We have come to know that Singapore is considering to quit its proposal as Bangladesh could not reply to the country even though five months have elapsed," a senior commerce ministry official said.
The government's Ministry of Water and Mineral Resources said steps are underway to reply to the Singapore government shortly as it is close to completing a feasibility study on the proposal.
Ayub Miah, secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, told the FE Monday: "We will soon submit our study report to the government on the proposal of the Housing Development Board (HDB) of Singapore."
The HDB, the real estate arm of the Singapore government, in February this year informed the Bangladesh government about its decision to import sand from the country after it was impressed with the quality and price of the local construction material.
"The HDB decided to import 70,000 tonnes of sand from our country in March," an official said, adding the HDB is in the process of shelving its decision as the government did not send any reply to Singapore.
Singapore expected to make Bangladesh its prime 'source of sand import', after its traditional supplier, Indonesia, last year suddenly imposed a blanket ban on export of land-sand citing environmental reasons.
On receipt of the proposal from Singapore, the Commerce Ministry convened a high level meeting of the government on May 14 and assigned the Ministry of Water Resources for carrying out a feasibility study on the proposal of the Singapore, a senior Ministry official said.
"We failed to reply to Singapore as we did not receive the study report from the Ministry of Water Resources," he said.
Mr. Miah said he has already asked the Water Resources Division to expedite the process of conducting the feasibility study.
A senior official in the Export Promotion Bureau said: "We don't think there will be any outcry from the environmental activists if we export sand to Singapore. We have huge and unlimited supply of sand in the rivers. It silted up rivers, requiring the government to spend hugely on dredging."
Riverine Bangladesh has abundant supply of sand in the shoals and banks of its over 200 small and medium rivers. The main Himalayan rivers, the Padma and the Brahmaputra, carries the sand to the lower riparian Bangladesh.
"It would have been good for the country's economy as we are now striving hard to diversify our export basket," he said.
