Myawaddy Trading Ltd and Kyaw Kyaw Phyo Company, together with Singapore-based firms, are exporting sand from Myanmar’s southern coastal regions.
Local representatives say more than four million cubic-meters of sand have been exported to Singapore since 2011.
Kyaw Hsan, regional minister for transport and communications, confirmed that Myawaddy Trading Limited — which is part of the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holding Ltd. — signed an agreement with a Singapore firm to export sand from Myeik and Kawthaung areas.
The Myanmar Ports Authority under the Ministry of Transport and Kyaw Kyaw Phyo Company Ltd. used dredgers to dig up sand from the Dawei River before exporting it to Singapore.
MP Soe Htwe, from Thayetchaung constituency in Taninthayi Region, asked local parliament which companies had dug sand, and how much the regional government got back in tax and developing funds.
Myanmar has reportedly received taxes of more than US$ 12 million. But locals from Taninthayi Region are now facing landslides and river erosion due to digging up of the Dawei River basin and lower parts of the river using dredgers.
