Shifting Sands

"Caribbean round grains, favoured in creating smooth surfaces for plastering and finishing, are being hauled away by the truckload late at night. On some islands, towns and ecologically sensitive areas are now exposed to tidal surges and rough seas.

Among the hardest hit is Grenada, where officials are building a $1.5-million sea wall to protect the 340-square-kilometre island. Large-scale sand thefts have exposed north-coast towns to rough seas, said Joseph Gilbert, Minister of Works and Environment.

Illegal sand mining in the Caribbean began in the 1970s, but people stole only small amounts for construction because most homes were built with wood. But the thefts increased as builders switched to concrete homes and have only become bigger with the rise in construction of resorts and hotels - built, ironically, for tourists drawn by the Caribbean's immaculate beaches. An estimated 80 new hotels and resorts are expected to open in the Caribbean by 2012."