Abstract: | This report is the Addendum to the EIA undertaken for the Proposed Reclamation of GDh.
Thinadhoo, Maldives. This addendum is based on the change of borrow area after the sand
search campaign has been undertaken. More details on the sand placing method is also
provided in this addendum.
An Environmental Impact Assessment was necessary for the works outlined in this report as
they fall under the „Jadhuvalu R‟ of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations
2012 of the Maldives. This report would further conform to the Dredging and Reclamation
regulation. In addition to meeting the regulatory requirements, the report would further
assist the proponent and important stakeholders to make decisions in an environmentally
sound manner.
The new dredging location is about 8 km west of the proposed borrow area 1 and area 3
given in the original EIA. The overall environmental impacts of the project have been
assessed using frameworks found on literature and the results indicate that the proposed
project has minimum negative impact and have an overall net positive outcome. The main
environmental positive impacts due to this change comes from the fact that it is slightly far
from the resort islands and sensitive areas, and therefore direct impact guests will be
minimised. However, the change results in the borrow area being located relatively closer to
the inhabited islands area, which also hosts a dive spot and a sensitive area. However, the
dredging location is still over 1 km away from the inhabited area, while it is about 7km
away from the nearest sensitive area. Dredging activities will no doubt increase
sedimentation impacts in the area, although lasting impacts are not envisaged. There are no
additional impacts due to reclamation as there is no change in scope with regards to this
component. Furthermore, it is important to note that the approved dredge locations in the
initial EIA were closer to the “Havodigalaa” sensitive area.
Important new stakeholders for the project include Atoll council, nearby resorts, and
Management at the Airports company, who may use the surrounding region of the borrow
area. The stakeholders consulted did not have any significant reservations. However, they
did note that the shallow reef North of the borrow area was used for bait fishing, and
fishermen from Madaveli use the general area and channel for fishing. The management at
the airports company inquired whether the height of the dredger would cause any issues to
incoming aircrafts. Both these concerns were attended to and subsequently, the stakeholders
did not have any further issues. The height of the ship will not cause any issue since the
channel was south of Kaadedhoo was not going to be used, and all stakeholders will be preinformed
before dredging commences.
Alternative borrow area options are not viable as the sand search campaign concluded that
there are no other significant sand depots within a reasonable distance from Thinadhoo.
Alternative areas are those that have already been excluded. The only other viable
alternative is to source sand from another region. Importing sand from abroad will be very
costly and will have further negative impacts at the reclaim site.
It is recommended to continue to monitor the impacts of the proposed project by regular
monitoring of marine water quality. The monitoring plan proposed in the original EIA is
slightly updated to include more monitoring locations, near borrow area. A two stage
monitoring plan is given, which recommends quarterly monitoring during the 1st year and
less frequent monitoring for the next 5 years. Undertaking the monitoring, along with the
mitigation measures is necessary to ensure the sustainable development of the project with
minimum harm to the environment.
It is thus recommended that since the project has major socio-economic benefits and
environmental benefits, it is advisable to allow the project to proceed as proposed.
Moreover, since the change in scope is relatively small, and since the initial EIA has been
approved, and also considering the fact that the sand search campaign resulted in only one
location within reasonable distance from Thinadhoo to obtain sand, there is no viable reason
to postpone or cancel the project due to this change. |