Sierra Leone: Beaches under attack from sand miners
Twenty-four hours a day, seven-days-a-week, truckloads of sand are being hauled from the beach into Freetown to satisfy the needs of construction companies and contractors. Hundreds of tonnes of sand from the beaches is mined and sold to builders as construction material. The activity is technically illegal but laws, as is often the case, are not being implemented or enforced.
Ugandan children abandon school for sand mining
More and more Ugandan children drop out of school, lured into sand mining on the banks of River Nile in Busaana Sub-county, and joining what seems a lucrative venture to earn a living.
Jobless Cape Coast youth venture into illegal beach sand winning; Ghana
The youth at Bakaano, a suburb of Cape Coast, have taken to illegal mining due to the unavailability of jobs.
Cities from the sea: the true cost of reclaimed land
Asia is growing. Literally. From Malaysia to Dubai, luxury developments are rising on artificial islands and coastlines. Everybody wins – except the local sea life and the fishermen who depend on it
It’s not just Xolobeni: What the Australian mining company did in the Western Cape; South Africa
The Australian mining company seeking the right to mine in Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape, has been lashed for its treatment of a community in the Western Cape where it has been accused of breaching its legal obligations.
Journalist investigating illegal sand mining cases run over by truck, MP, India
A journalist investigating illegal sand mining cases in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh was run over by a truck on Monday, media reports said.
Sand Mining in Uganda Poses a Serious Threat to the Environment
Environmentalists in Uganda say an important wetland that runs along a highway linking the capital city of Kampala to the southwestern town of Masaka is being harmed by aggressive dredging to extract sand.
Schoolboys employed in sand mining, Tamil Nadu, India
Poverty and proximity to riverbeds have been weaning away a number of children studying in government schools and pushing them into sand mining. The sand mafia, in a bid to find cheap labour, has been using schoolchildren to lift sand from the riverbeds. The unsuspecting youngsters fall prey to the designs of the mafia, tempted by the money on offer.
Asia’s hunger for sand takes a toll on endangered species
Across Asia, rampant extraction of sand for construction is eroding coastlines and scouring waterways. t’s a global concern, but especially acute in Asia, where all trends show that urbanization and the region’s big construction boom are going to continue for many years.