The Indonesians seem to be shooting themselves in the foot.
Just a few weeks ago, Indonesian authorities banned the export of land sand and granite to Singapore, citing environmental concerns.
But when questioned by the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta said it had not banned exports.
The Indonesian navy is still detaining the barges and tugboats used to transport granite out of Karimun, where about 90% of the island's granite is exported to Singapore.
This situation has not only hit Singapore's construction sector, but has cost some 600 Indonesian workers their jobs too.
For those lucky enough to keep theirs, monthly wages have been slashed by 20%.
According to the Today newspaper, Karimun's head of administration, Mr Nubri Basirun, says a “solution could be on the cards if he raises export tax by 67% - to 30,000 rupiah per metric tonne of granite – and also hikes other duties”.
If this is indeed the case and by the time this issue is solved, Singapore might already have found an alternative source of the raw material.
The “peace-loving” locals of Karimun would then be left to eke out a different living once their quarries get shut down.
All this because of “environmental concerns”?
Come on, get real.
If Indonesia really felt granite was environmentally-damaging, the least they could do is to slowly ease off the export amount and help importers with the transition.
On a side note, this nonsense came out about the same time Malaysia started picking bones with Singapore about bidding for the F1 circuit.
Serene Lim
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