S'pore to share construction costs, may reopen granite quarry

S'pore to share construction costs, may reopen granite quarry

SINGAPORE - Singapore will shoulder some of the increased cost of sand and granite and will consider reopening a former granite quarry in order to help businesses cope with recent supply disruptions, the government said on Monday.

The measures come after Indonesia banned sand exports to Singapore in January, and followed up the next month by detaining 22 tugboats and barges carrying granite bound for the city-state.

Costs for the granite and sand - used to make concrete - have risen since Singapore has been forced to look to more distant countries to supply its needs.

Grace Fu, Minister of State for National Development, told Parliament that the government would help the construction industry by sharing up to 75 per cent of the cost increase.

She also said the government will tap its local granite sources, notably considering reopening a quarry on of its northern islands.

'It is necessary to carry out some limited quarrying to understand the issues involved in reactivating quarries, such as the preparatory works and time involved, and the mitigating measures to put in place,' she said.

Singapore was once a thriving centre for granite quarrying, employing several hundred quarry workers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Goerge Yeo said on Monday that Indonesia has not banned granite exports to the city-state. However, he said that supply has been disrupted after 22 Singapore-bound barges and tugboats carrying granite were detained by Indonesia in February and March.

Mr Yeo said seven of the 22 tugboats and barges were alleged to be carrying sand, while the rest were detained for violating other Indonesian shipment and custom regulations.

Indonesia has said that the detention was part of 'administrative verification procedures'. -- AP, REUTERS