Govt Denies Sea Sand Export Policy For Singapore Investment in New Capital Project

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono rebutted the allegation that the government’s sea sand export policy is aimed at facilitating Singapore’s investment in the new capital city Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan.

The sea sand export is regulated in Government Regulation (PP) No. 26 of 2023 concerning the management of sea sedimentation.

“It's not [stipulated] there. In the PP, it's exported if domestic needs have been met, if it complies with the laws and regulations,” Trenggono said when met at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Monday, June 12, 2023.

He explained that the need for reclamation in the country is very high spreading across many regions, such as East Java, IKN, Batam, and Jakarta. That is why the government considers the need to regulate it through the PP so that the raw material used for reclamation only comes from marine sedimentation which does not damage the environment.

When asked about the economic potential, Trenggono claimed that he did not know the exact amount as the ministry is still calculating the potential non-tax state revenue (PNBP) from this policy.

“But what is certain is that there are a lot of reclamation projects. That's how big the economic potential is,” he said.

Nevertheless, Trenggono does not deny that the demand for Indonesian sea sand for the reclamation project in Singapore is huge. He said there will be a study team to analyze the proposals so that export permits are only given to business actors who meet the standards.

As widely reported, PP No. 26 of 2023 has drawn a lot of criticism, especially regarding the sea sand export that has been banned for the past 20 years to prevent environmental damage, including the sinking of small islands around Indonesia's outermost areas.

The allegations of Singapore's interests behind the export policy emerge since Indonesia targets the neighboring country to invest in the new capital project. Reports said that 95 Singaporean investors from 69 companies visited the new capital area in East Kalimantan at the end of last May.

The Investment Ministry also stated that the government guarantees ease of investment. Moreover, at the Ecosperity Week 2023 in Singapore, President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced that the government prepares 300 investment packages with a total value of US$2.6 billion or Rp38.62 trillion with an assumed rate of Rp14,855 per US dollar.

“I was also a businessman. Don't worry, we have prepared fiscal incentives, such as tax holidays, non-collected VAT, super deduction taxes, and import duties,” Jokowi said before global business leaders, policymakers, and investors in Singapore, on June 7, 2023.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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