Round a bend in Cambodia's Tatai River and the virtual silence of a tropical idyll turns suddenly into an industrial nightmare. Lush jungle hills give way to a flotilla of dredgers operating 24 hours a day, scooping up sand and piling it onto ocean-bound barges, AP reported. |
美聯社消息,繞著柬埔寨的塔太河走一圈,你會發現這里靜謐的熱帶田園轉眼間就變成了一個工業夢魘。數輛24小時運作的挖土機將蒼翠繁茂的叢林小山推倒,鏟起土,倒進要出海的駁船上。 |
What is bad news for the poor, remote Tatai community is great tidings for Singapore, the wealthy city-state that is expanding its territory by reclaiming land from the sea. Sand from nearby countries is the prime landfill and also essential building material for Singapore's spectacular skyline. |
對于貧窮遙遠的塔太社區來說,這是個災難,但對于富庶的城市國家新加坡來說卻是幸事。新加坡正通過從海里回收土壤以擴大疆土。鄰國的沙土成為新加坡奇幻城市美景建設的重要填海材料和建筑材料。 |
Singapore is by no means the only nation taking part in what is a global harvest of sand from beaches, rivers and seabeds. Officials and environmentalists from China to Morocco have voiced concern and urged curbs. |
但新加坡絕不是世界上唯一一個從海灘、河流和海底撈土的國家。從中國到摩洛哥的官員和環境學家對此舉都表示擔憂并呼吁限制。 |
As construction booms in emerging economies and more sources dry up, however, exploitation of the remaining ones is likely to intensify.
(China.org.cn August 24, 2011) |
新興經濟體國家正大興土木而更多的資源正在枯竭,因此,各國對現有資源的掠奪可能會愈加升級。 |