Browsing by Author | މުސައްނިފުން "Naseer, A."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Technical Report
Environmental impact assessment for the extension of service jetty, Malé Aerated Water Company, MAWC, Thulushdhoo – K. Malé
(2010-04) Adam, M. S.; Naseer, A.
1. Malé Aerated Water Company is first to establish a bottling plant in the Maldives. Under the franchise agreement between Coca Cola® their bottling plant became operational in 1998. The plant is located in K. Thulusdhoo, North Malé Atoll on rented land from Government. Recently the volume of the production has increased and as a result the frequency and volume of the material that comes and goes from the plant has increased tremendously. The existing service jetty is small and is not designed to serve more than one boat at time. Presently MAWC uses shallow –draft barges for supply of its products to Malé. The amount of space on the quay wall is extremely limited and requires extending the present service jetty. 2. This EIA is related to the proposal for extension of the MAWC service jetty. MAWC has acquired 745 sq m (58 m beach line) of land adjacent to the existing service jetty. The land is leased for a period of the 10 years. The lease agreement was signed on 20 July 2009 between K. Atoll Office and MAWC. 3. It is proposed to construct a jetty quay-wall along the 58 m long beach line. Three options for construction of the quay wall were considered; concreted bags, placing pre fabricated concreted T-block (available from the newly formed Works Cooperation) and proper metal sheet piling. The developer has opted to use the concrete T-blocks to construct the quay wall. 4. Starting from the Customs Jetty to the existing MAWC jetty steel reinforced concreted T-blocks will be placed to ‘sheet-pile’ the place. The back will be filled with dredged material taken from the surrounding areas. A total of the 2,500 cubic meters of material will be required to fill the place and level the ground. 5. The material will be removed from the adjacent area. The area is shallow about -0.5m. The basin requires deepening to about -2.0 m. The required volume of material is not significant to have any noticeable impact to the area. Sedimentation is unavoidable during dredging works. But similar to many such projects, even in much larger projects involving dredging lasting weeks, the sediment plume is dispersed to negligible level almost immediately (2-3 days) when the dredging stops. 6. The construction works of this project will be contracted to professional contractors and the developer will ensure environmental standards are maintained, including the recommendation and mitigation measures identified in the EIA. The project is expected to complete in 3 months. 7. Stake holder consultations have been undertaken since 2006. The consultant also met the Island Chief and the Island Councilor. They have re-iterated the decision of the Island Committee and the implementation of the agreement made between the K. Atoll Office and MAWC 8. Under MAWC corporate social responsibility programme it has been proposed that northern section of the quay wall is to be used by the community especially the fishermen. At present there only the official jetty 9. It is proposed to monitor the beach in the northern north of the island for a period of 12 months following the proposed extension of the jetty. Beach width should be taken at 10 points along the beach every month. Depth measurements will need to be measured along the quay wall from MAWC jetty to the Customs jetty at 6 points replicating the baseline depth measurements collected as part of this assessment.
Technical Report
Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed development of ekulhivaru, Noonu Atoll, as a premium tourist resort
(2010-04-01) Adam, M. S.; Naseer, A.
The purpose of this EIA is to fulfill the obligations of the proponent to undertake EIA under Clause 5 of the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act (Law # 4/93) of the Maldives and the requirements of Maldives Tourism Regulation. This EIA establishes the current state of the existing environment where the development takes place. All the activities of the development and operation are evaluated for their environmental impacts, positive or negative. Corrective and remedial measures are suggested on how to reverse or improve the predicted impacts and maintain the overall quality of the environment. Ekulhivaru is located in Noonu Atoll about 10‐12 km west of inhabited islands of Hembadhoo and Kendhikulhudhoo and 22 km east from Holhudhoo. Closest tourist resorts to Ekulhivaru are Dholhiyadhoo in Shaviyani Atoll, to the north and Kudafunafaru in Noonu Atoll to the south. Both are resorts in the development stage. Ekulhivaru has been leased to MTDC for developing a tourist resort. MTDC is developing the island in partnership with The Ritz Carlton and Berjaya Corporation Berhad, Malaysia. The objective of the project is to develop the island of Ekulhivaru as a premier high end tourist resort – The Ritz‐Carlton Reserve. The main features of the built environment are 55 beach villas around the periphery of the island and 35 overwater villas, built in three clusters, on the shallow sandy lagoon. In addition specialty restaurants, spa with treatment rooms and full back‐of‐the house facilities will be constructed on the island. The construction of the resort will follow international standards with the project supervisors based at site. Sustainable ‘green’ building techniques and material will be applied wherever possible to limit the environmental impact of the development. National and global environmental policy issues, have strong bearings on development of resorts on coral reefs in the Maldives. Legislation affecting tourism development and the institutional matters relating to tourism and environment are highlighted. The project will be developed in accordance with the guidelines and regulations relating to tourism in the Maldives. The developers will establish links to international efforts to conserve coral reef biodiversity by contributing to government efforts in environmental management. The Baseline conditions of the existing environment were investigated by established scientific methods and field surveys. The components of the environment that may be affected by the project were identified and baseline assessments were made with a view to monitor these components so that potential impacts can be mitigated. Coral cover, fish fauna, terrestrial flora and fauna, beach and nearshore marine habitats were assessed and surveyed. The island of Ekulhivaru was in pristine environmental condition at the time of the survey. The vegetation of the island was thick and lush green dominated by bushy tropical plants and trees. Coconut palms grew only on the eastern half on the island and were sparse. The island has extensive sandy beaches around it with intact beach vegetation and pollution free waters. Beaches were dominant at the western periphery of the island. Extensive beach erosion was observed at the east end of the island. Coral cover on the reef slope and reef flat was moderate to low and appears to be recovering from recent disturbances. All reef habitats were abundant in young coral colonies with high diversity. Major coral types are described. Beds of the coral Helipora sp were found at the western shallow lagoon area. Fish life was abundant and detailed fish lists are provided. Turtles nested on the island beaches as noted by the nests and tracks observed during field assessments. By carefully assessing and examining the condition of the coral reef habitats and the terrestrial environment, and after considering the project inputs and activities, environmental impacts resulting from this development was predicted and described. The most significant environmental impact resulting from the project would be the opening of a reef entrance and the deepening of the arrival jetty area lagoon to create a harbor basin. Impacts resulting from these activities are described and mitigations are proposed. Most of the impacts resulting from the construction stages and operational stages are low to medium in nature and can be mitigated with careful planning. Opening of the channel and entrance and deepening activities were found to be irreversible, but justified for a resort of this standard. Experience from other resort developments show that these impacts can be managed and an ecological balance can be achieved in time. Environmental impacts that are inevitable would include loss of some bottom biota (coral and invertebrates in particular), altered bathymetry, sediment re‐suspension and the potential for prolonged turbid conditions at least seasonally in the short to medium term. It is proposed to undertake practical and sensible mitigation measures to minimize those impacts. These include undertaking excavation work during maximum tidal flushing, use of bund walls and making use of a landing craft for transporting excavated material to the beach and strict supervision of the work at all times. Medium to long term impact of this change would lead to changes in bathymetry that would potentially alter the sediment dynamics in the immediate lagoon areas. Mitigation measures are considered and presented for each impact causing activity of the project. Production of water, power and waste management activities will proceed in accordance with government standards and guidelines and commitments are made to achieve the highest environmental standards in the operational stages of the resort. The proponent is fully committed to undertaking the mitigation measures proposed in this report and bear costs of the monitoring activities during construction and operational phase. The monitoring necessary for environmental mitigation has been laid out and their frequencies are presented. The proponent is committed to oversee and implement the monitoring programme and will allocate required finances for the activities proposed. The main monitoring activities will be those relating to coral reef health, water quality and changes in sediment dynamics and its effects on the beach profiles.