KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): Malaysia's sea sand export ban aims to ensure enough supply of the commodity to satisfy domestic demand, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said today.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby here, Dr Xavier denied that the ban aims to limit Singapore's reclamation projects.

“No, there is nothing to do with that. Singapore can always buy sand from other countries which are exporting, in case they want to do reclamation. Nobody is stopping them; we have no right to stop any country from doing reclamation. As far as we are concerned, it is a collective decision that we have done (made), in order to stop sea sand exportation,” he said.

Dr Xavier said Malaysia's sea sand export ban has been effective since Pakatan Harapan took over the government in May last year.

“When we took over the government, we decided that sea sand will not be exported to any country. It is not just Singapore, but we have stopped exporting sea sand to any other countries outside Malaysia. Sea sand that is being mined in Malaysia is only for local use and not for export.

“It is a policy that the government decided, that at present, there is no need for us to export sea sand to any country outside Malaysia; it is a decision made by the Cabinet, and we follow through on the decision. There is no big deal about it,” he said.

Dr Xavier however, said Malaysia's river sand can be exported to other countries with the prime minister's (PM) approval. According to Dr Xavier, only four companies in the country have been licensed to export river sand to countries like China, India, Mauritius and Brunei.

“River sand, yes, can be exported to other countries, but exportation has to get the prime minister's approval. I will do the papers, the approval for export especially, the Cabinet has decided that the PM has to approve it," he said.