DAMMAM, 5 November 2003 — Perhaps surprisingly, Bahrain is short of sand. Very short. So dire is its need that the country’s construction industry is casting around for sources to import the rare commodity.

Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia has banned export of sand and started strict checks on the borders. Increased construction activity in the Eastern Province has already put several construction materials on the endangered list, and the authorities fear that if sand continues to trickle into foreign markets, very soon a shortage will be felt here as well.

The construction industry is already short of cement and steel. Many cement factories are in the process of expanding their production capacity in order to meet domestic requirements. Export of cement has already declined because of high domestic demand.

The fact is that although there is plenty of sand in the desert, transporting and bagging it from far-flung areas is often not economically feasible. Construction industry experts say that if only some kind of mechanism could be evolved to transport sand from areas like the Rub Al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) then it might become a “very profitable proposition.” Sand, after all, is more common even than oil in the desert Kingdom.

Bahrain, an island neighboring Saudi Arabia, is mostly marshy land and, in its endeavor to expand, city planners have relentlessly been reclaiming land from the sea.

From its very beginnings the construction industry in Bahrain depended on sand from Saudi Arabia. The authorities have been soft on traders, and as a result sand has been crossing the border despite a ban on exports. Now, however, the ban is being enforced.

Construction industry sources also say that in the coming days shortage of several construction materials will bite harder because of reconstruction work in Iraq. The recent passage of a bill by the US Senate sanctioning $80 to $90 billion for reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan will boost activity there.

International brokers are tapping all possible sources in the Kingdom to procure cement and steel. “At present not too many things are being sold to Iraq, but sooner or later, the Eastern Province will be supplying all the construction requirements in Iraq,” said Abdul Rahman Al-Furaih, the owner of a construction company in the Eastern Province.

Khaled Al-Muhaidib, another businessman, said Eastern Province businessmen will not be able to ignore the “Iraq opportunity” for much longer, and they are bound to plunge into reconstruction activity there.