<
https://boingboing.net/2026/02/13/sand-thieves-stole-an-entire-jamaican-beach-and-got-away-with-it-in-2008.html>
"In 2008, someone stole an entire beach in Jamaica. Five hundred truckloads of
white sand vanished from Coral Springs, Trelawny, derailing a $110 million
resort development. Charges were eventually dropped after death threats against
the key witness. Nobody was ever convicted.
Sand theft is a global industry. The illegal sand trade is estimated to be
worth $200-$350 billion annually, according to Wikipedia, driven by demand for
concrete and land reclamation; sand ranks second only to water among the
planet's most-used resources. Humans burn through 40 to 50 billion tonnes of
the stuff annually, mostly for concrete and land reclamation, and mining
operations account for 85 percent of all mineral extraction worldwide.
Singapore has used imported sand to expand its land area by 24 percent since
independence, importing 517 million tons over 20 years. The cost: at least 24
Indonesian islands were destroyed or submerged by over-extraction. Nipah
Island, on the Singapore-Indonesia border, disappeared entirely under the waves
in 2003, leaving only a few palm trees visible above the waterline. Indonesia
banned sand exports to Singapore in 2007.
India's sand mafias run what amounts to the country's biggest criminal racket.
Sand mafias have killed hundreds of people, including journalists, police
officers, and environmental activists. An 81-year-old retired teacher named Sam
Devasagayam was hacked to death in 2014 for campaigning against illegal
extraction from the Thamirabarani River. In Kerala, sand is dredged from rivers
40 times faster than the rivers can replenish it."
Via Joyce Donahue.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
