| Abstract: | This report addresses the environmental concerns of the proposed development of a resort on
Hudhufushi, Lhaviyani Atoll. The island is about 0.5km2 in its size and is located on a shared
reef system at the eastern side of Lhaviyani Atoll. The Proponent of the proposed
development is RPI Pvt. Ltd., a company registered in the Maldives for the purpose of
establishing Hudhufushi as a tourist resort.
The Proponent proposes to develop a modern resort on Hudhufushi with 27 garden villas, 09
Suit villas, 30 Water villas and 134 Beach villas along with swimming pool, Dive Center,
Water Sports Center, Sports Center with gymnasium, Wellness Center or Spa, a theatre, Kids
Center with day care services, arrival and service jetties with mooring area or harbor, staff
village with shops and different utilities including desalination plant, sewage treatment plant,
waste management center and powerhouse.
The proposed development will conform to all current environmental legislation including the
Regulation on the Protection and Conservation of the Environment in the Tourism Industry.
The main negative impact of the proposed development will be the impact of sedimentation
on the areas of the housereef on the west where the proposed harbor and access channel will
be developed and the impact of deforestation due to land clearance for proposed buildings.
These impacts are inevitable. Yet, every effort will be made to minimize the impact and
footprint of the impact. The impact of sedimentation on the reef will be minimized by
undertaking the excavation at low tides and creating settlement basins as the dredging activity
proceeds or by using silt screens. Due to the direction and strength of currents in the proposed
jetty and mooring area, the consultants recommend moving the jetty to an alternative location
on western side of the island. To minimize the impact of deforestation, buildings will be
designed around mature trees minimizing their removal. If a mature tree were to be removed,
they will be carefully uprooted and transplanted elsewhere. Impact of water villas is
considered to be minor negative given that they are in the lagoon and at a considerable
distance from the housereef. To minimize this impact on longshore sediment transport, the
walkways of water villas will stand on piles with their footings buried in the seabed. The
impact of sedimentation will be minimized by taking care to move the water villas as far away
from the live reef areas as possible and transplanting any live corals that may be directly
impacted. Care will also be taken to minimize sedimentation on the reef when placing water villa footings and columns. Precast footings and columns will be used and excavator
movements shall be minimized. Excavator is preferably moved on barge to minimize
sedimentation and if high bed excavators were to be used, they shall move as far from coral
reef flat areas as possible. This impact of sedimentation will be short-lived given that tidal and
wind-driven currents would normally carry the sediments away from the reef at all tides and
monsoons. It is vital, therefore, to monitor the condition of the reef prior to the start of works,
during the works and after the works to establish the true nature of the impact.
The other environmental impacts of the proposed development include solid waste
management, water supply, sewage disposal and energy generation. Solid waste will be
generated both during the constructional and operational phase of the resort. Constructional
waste will be disposed of by the contractor, to Thilafushi if a regional landfill or waste
management site does not exist. During the operational phase, a waste management center
established on the island will segregate waste and dispose of them in a manner prescribed in
tourism regulations. It is during the construction stage that the waste is often not managed
properly and waste ends up in the environment. Therefore, it is vital that waste management
procedures are in place during construction phase to ensure waste is appropriately dealt with.
Supervision and awareness of construction workforce is highly recommended. Desalination,
sewage treatment and power generation are fuel-dependent processes and fuel efficient
desalination technology, STPs and, especially, generator sets will be installed in the island.
Gravity sewers will deliver the sewage and only a single pumping station will be used.
Treated effluent with low levels of BOD (less than 20mg/l) will be disposed to the sea at not
less than 10m below MSL and 5m away from the reef edge. Therefore, the impact from
sewage disposal will be almost negligible. In fact, the daily peak flows is quite small that the
proposed sea outfall would provide over 500-fold dilution to the sewage effluent even if it
were raw sewage, which would occur only in the unlikely event that the sewage treatment
plant fails. Hence, no further mitigation measures have been considered for sewage disposal
and treatment.
Environmental monitoring has also been incorporated into the project. Arrangements for
monitoring during constructional and operational phase will be considered immediately upon
EIA approval. Monitoring will be undertaken according to the monitoring programme
recommended in this report. Recommended monitoring for the project includes the
monitoring of shoreline at predetermined and bench-marked tide level, beach profiles and
drogues at locations given in the EIA report, marine water quality at the location of the intake, brine discharge, sea outfall and a control location, groundwater at a location close to the
powerhouse and desalination plant and a control location and quality of product water at 3
specified locations including product water tank. In addition, water, energy, fuel and waste
production/usage statistics will have to be collected. Annual monitoring reports have to be
submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency over the monitoring period and shall
include fuel and water consumption data and greenhouse gas emission calculations.
The overall environmental impacts of the project have been assessed using appropriate
matrices and the results indicated that the proposed project has net positive impact. Given that
the project has major socio-economic benefits although there would be some negative
environmental impacts, it is recommended to allow the project to proceed as proposed with
recommended mitigation measures in place. One of the important mitigation measures or
development options identified during the consultative meetings is to declare the coastal inlet
as a protected area while providing the Proponent adequate compensation. This has been
agreed in principle between the Proponent and EPA and further discussions are underway. |
