Indonesia’s Minister of Maritime and Fisheries Affairs Sakti Wahyu Trenggono confirmed his meeting with five dredging companies. The meeting took place during a public consultation regarding the use of sand from sea sedimentation in Batam, Riau Islands on Friday, June 9, 2023.
“The [meeting] will discuss technical matters and then seek input or information,” he said when met at the Parliament Complex in South Jakarta on Monday, June 12, 2023.
Tempo Magazine reported that there are five dredging companies or ship operators digging materials from the seabed. They are PT Van Oord Indonesia, PT Boskalis International Indonesia, Penta Ocean, PT Idros Service and PT Dredging International Indonesia.
Trenggono said he had discussed the requirements needed to make sea sand dredging environmentally friendly. “It has to be ecologically sustainable, because the world sees everything.”
However, Trenggono denied that the five companies would be involved in dredging the sea sand. He said, the activity of dredging sea sand could only run after the technical regulations from Government Regulation (PP) No.26/2023 on the Management of Sedimentation Products in the Sea.
The ministry’s director general of marine spatial management, Victor Gustaaf Manoppo, said that his department has not issued any permits for the management of sea sand. This is because the derivative rules of PP No.26/2023 are still being formulated and will be issued later this year as a Ministerial Regulation (Permen). “A PP cannot run if the ministerial regulation is not issued yet,” he said.
On the licensing of sea sand dredging, KKP is also forming a study team that will analyze and verify the proposals from business actors. The team consists of staff from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Ministry of Transportation, KKP and academics from leading universities.
The team, Victor said, will also determine the location and volume of sea sand dredging. The team’s analysis results will be reported to the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries as a suggestion.
“Just because we have a coast, it doesn’t mean that anyone can dredge the sands.”