Bangladesh is missing a good volume of earnings in foreign currency in the wake of a row between two ministries over a proposal on sand export.
The demand for sand from Bangladesh was increasing gradually across the globe. But the scope of export was remaining untapped in the absence of a decision on the proposal, said sources.
The Network and Infrastructure Company applied to the ministry of commerce (MoC) seeking approval for exporting over 1.5 million tonnes of sand to Singapore. But the proposal was remaining pending, the sources said.
"We can bag a big volume of earnings in foreign currency by exporting unused sand, which will contribute to the country's economic growth," MoC Deputy Secretary Saidur Rahman Selim told the FE Friday on phone.
The MoC and the ministry of land were working on sand export to the Maldives, Singapore and other countries. Both the ministries were assessing its export potential. They would take a final decision in this regard as early as possible, officials at the MoC and the land ministry said.
Earlier the Maldivian government showed interest to import sand from Bangladesh. But the move did not see further progress due to bureaucratic complexities.
Apart from the firm, there were some other private parties who applied to the land ministry seeking to export sand.
Owners of those firms said it might be possible to earn Tk 70.0 billion to 120.0 billion every year by exporting sand.
The existing Export Policy Order of the MoC does not prohibit sand export. It can be exported to different countries on permission from the government.
The land ministry sources said the government was considering sand as a new potential export item.
Around one billion cubic metres of sediment flow from the Himalayas into Bangladesh through its river network. This is one of the main reasons the country's rivers are losing their navigability.
The government should take an effective step to export sand so that the country could a large amount of money in foreign currency every year, sources said.
Bangladesh has to dredge major rivers almost every year. After the dredging the sand is kept on riverbanks and at one stage it again falls into the rivers.
If the sand is exported, the rivers will not silt up while the country also will earn a sizable volume of export proceeds, according to sources.
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