Sand stats ‘correct’: government
At a government-organised forum on sand exports on January 24, a Ministry of Mines and Energy official said an investigation had been carried out into huge discrepancies in data on sand export from Cambodia to Singapore but that the probe found no irregularities. UN data show Cambodia’s customs reported 2.8 million tonnes of sand exports to Singapore from 2007 to 2015, while Singapore recorded 72.2 million tonnes in imports during the same period. A ministry official yesterday said they had recorded about 16 million tonnes of exports to Singapore for the same period – still a discrepancy of some 56 million tonnes. However, Dith Tina, spokesman and secretary of state for the ministry, said on the sidelines of the forum that the investigation found the ministry’s figures to be “correct”. When asked what the investigation had looked into, Tina referred questions to fellow secretary of state and spokesman Meng Saktheara, who he said, had carried out the review.
