Environment - ތިމާވެށި
Browse
Item Environment impact assessment for the proposed airport development project in Ifuru Island, Raa Atoll(2011-10) CDE ConsultingThis Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an evaluation of the potential environmental, socioeconomic and natural impacts of the proposed regional airport development project, planned for Ifuru Island, Raa Atoll. The project is being undertaken by Ifuru Investments Pvt. Ltd. The main components of the project include constructing and operating an airport (domestic), and a 200 bed transit hotel. The airstrip and supporting facilities for the airport will be developed on the eastern half of the island. Additional land is to be reclaimed from the lagoon to accommodate the airstrip length and supporting facilities. Moreover, extensive vegetation clearing will also be required to accommodate the airstrip. The tourist hotel will also be constructed on the western side of the island. Most infrastructure will be developed independent of each other (i.e. airport and hotel), but utilities such as power, water supply, access infrastructure, sewerage management system and waste management will be developed as shared facilities. Since the airport is being constructed on an island currently used for agricultural purposes a few developments such as the roads and access facilities already existing on the island. However, these facilities are in poor condition and will be repaired or redeveloped under this project. These include the redevelopment of the existing harbour and entrance channel, reclamation of new land and the development of a road between the harbour and airport terminals. The construction is expected to begin during 2011 and will be completed within 18 months. The construction of the airport hotel will also begin during 2012 and is expected to take 24 months. The estimated costs for both project is $50 million. This EIA has been developed based on the Term of Reference (ToR) issued by the Ministry of Transport, Housing and Environment (MTHE) of the Maldives. This document is submitted by the proponent to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and MHTE to fulfil the requirements for an EIA under Article 5 of the Environment Protection and Preservation Act (4/93). The EIA Regulations 2007 have been used as the basis for developing this document. This EIA only covers the construction and operation of the airport and, vegetation clearing for the hotel area. A separate EIA will be submitted for the construction and operation of the hotel.Item Environmental impact assessment for the development of a domestic airport on Kooddoo, GA. Atoll(2011-10) Adam, M. Shiham1. Kooddoo Island is located on the eastern boarder of Huvadhoo Atoll, Ga. Atoll, just south of Villingili. The island has a fresh tuna collection, freezing and storage facility owned by the state-owned enterprise – Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Ltd (MIFCO). MIFCO was re-structured early 2011 and the Kooddoo operation was made a separate business entity under the name of Kooddoo Fisheries Maldives Private Ltd. 2. Plans for development of a domestic airport in Gaafu Alifu (GA) Atoll have been a government priority for some time. The initial plan was to have the airport on GA Villingili. A large area of the Villingili on the north eastern side was reclaimed in 2005 to provide land for housing and infrastructure developments. However, the size and shape of the reclaimed area was found to be not sufficient or appropriate for the 1200 x 30 m long aerodrome required for the domestic flights. Additional land has to be reclaimed if the airport is to be constructed on Villingili as planned, costing additional financial resources to be allocated. 3. Two uninhabited islands in region are being developed as tourist resorts and one of them - Falhumaafushi Resort - is now close to completion. Falhumaafushi Resort is expected to be officially open in early 2012. The construction of the second island Dhigurah is expected to the start very soon. These islands were tendered and developed in the hope the domestic airport on Villingili will be operational by the time of their opening. The need for a domestic airport for guest transfer is now essential to make the resorts economically viable as originally expected. 4. In order to fast tract the development of the domestic airport, the National Planning Council (NPC) in consultation with the major stakeholders in the region (i.e., Atoll and Island Councils, Members of Parliament and the Regional Administrative Offices) decided that a best possible and practical option is to have the airport on Kooddoo. 5. The developer of the airport is Bonvavista (Maldives) Private Limited, a property developer and resort owner based in Singapore. The agreement has been that the developer gets the GA. Dhigurah Island (not far from Kooddoo) for long term lease including some concession in rent for some initial period in return for the investment costs of domestic airport on Kooddoo Island. The contractor for the project is Keong Hong Construction Private Limited of Singapore. 6. At the scoping meeting the developer requested that EIA be submitted in two parts; the first one focusing only on the initial deployment of machinery, labourers and the clearance of the area required for the development. It was agreed that the second and complete EIA be submitted within the validity of the ToR (see Annex 1) and before the construction work begins. This first report therefore focused only on the initial mobilization and clearance of vegetation. The report is approved and the Decision Note issued (see Annex 2). 7. The surveys required for the EIA has been undertaken on 4-10 September 2011. Two separate trees surveys were done; one by total enumeration on randomly selected 4 x 100 x 100 m plots and the other by image analysis using a high resolution satellite imagery combined with ground truthed data undertaken as a separated survey at the same period. 8. The satellite image was classified to nine categories; “agricultural crops”, “bush vegetation”, “coastal bush vegetation”, “coconut grove”, “developed area”, “mixed woody vegetation”, “modified woody vegetation” and “open area and strand vegetation”. Highest cover was found to be in Mixed Vegetation type which through ground truth surveys were found to be Midhili, Uni and Kandhu1 and some few palm trees. For each category a range of number of trees were provide. Image analysis estimated that number of coconut trees would be in the range of 3,600 – 5,800. 9. The enumerated survey assumed that density and distribution of trees are same across the entire island. Furthermore it also assumes the random quadtrats (4 in nos.) are also representative of the floral composition of the island and their location does not create additional biases. While sound in theory in practice it may not be. The result of this simple averaging method was found to be quite different from results of the image analysis. While also acknowledging biases in the image analysis the true numbers of major trees type would probably in the range the values estimated. 10. All mature trees and coconut palms will be uprooted under the guidance and supervision to ensure that trees are in good condition for transport and replanting. The developer has identified five main potential islands; Villingili, Falhumaafushi, Vilivaru, and the newly reclaimed island of Gulhifalhu, where trees will be transported. Separate arrangement will be made by the contractor to ensure the safe transport and re-planting of tree in those islands. Experience elsewhere shows that replanted trees survive well provided that watering and enough care is given in the initial stages, particularly in uprooting and transporting. A target survival rate has been estimated at 70% and means to ensure this would be monitoring and reporting. 11. Surveys and assessment show the deployment of heavy equipment and machinery will be problematic. It was found to be almost impossible to use lifting equipment to unload the heavy machinery from barges over the quay wall. Following procedures practiced in similar projects in the Maldives, it was suggested to create a temporary landing site north of the island. An entrance to the reef already exists there but the area requires scrapping ~0.3 - 0.4 m off the substrate close to the beach area to allow flat-topped barges to move close to the beach. 12. Land and soil survey of Kooddoo showed presence of loose humus soil up to the water table at 1.4 - 1.5 m. This result was the same in locations surveyed. Laying out the air-field require two compacted aggregate base layers before the porous asphalt layer can be laid on top. These are 0.35 m thick compacted base-layer and 0.15m thick crushed aggregate course on top of the base-layer. These two layers require about 20,000m3 aggregate materials which will be sourced from local house reef. Exploring of alternatives suggests the most practical and cost-effective way to obtain the material is by dredging the house-reef. An area of about 300m x 70m x 1m on the eastern side of the reef flat will be dredged to source the required material. In all earlier airport construction projects the base layer material has been sourced from the local reef. 13. Overall the significant negative environmental impacts of the development project were found to be three; i) sourcing fill material from local reef, ii) clearance over 40% of Kooddoo area off vegetation and iii) creation of a temporary landing site for unloading/loading of construction equipment. Dredging reef flat may have immediate to medium term impacts that could potentially cause unintended erosion / accretion of the island. But shore-stabilization structures are not proposed at this stage. It was noted that significant areas of north eastern reef of Villingili was also dredged which may have potential long term impacts to the region including Kooddoo reef flat. Post- development monitoring will help to better understand the impacts to Kooddoo and provide reasonable time frame to address any remedial or mitigation measure that wil have to be implemented in a timely manner. 14. Vegetation clearance will have direct loss of habitats and potential agricultural land. Both are important in the context of the green and carbon neutral concept. However, in the long term, the construction and operation of the airport outweighs any potential of loss of ecological habitat and agricultural land. In summary significant negative impacts include loss of top soil, potential degradation of ground water quality, loss of significant area of vegetation and potential death of the significant number of trees and likely shift of ecological regime of the island in the medium to long term. Positive impacts include opportunities for economic growth and development of the region, the local aviation industry and further increase of tourism potential in GA and neighbouring area. 15. Alternatives have been proposed for project activities only. The decision to have the airport on Kooddoo is an executive high level government decision which may supersedes findings of the assessment on suitability of the site. Areas of potential impacts have been clearly identified and ways of mitigation have been suggested. The developer and contractor are fully aware of these issues and are committed to be responsible for implementing these measures during the construction of the airport and its facilities. 16. The operational arrangement of airport is not yet clear. It is envisaged that some of the services of Kooddoo Fisheries Maldives Pvt Ltd will be used for the management and day-to-day running of the airport. In this case separate arrangements will have to be made by the airport operator and the Kooddoo Fisheries Maldives. 17. Additional land surveys for levelling the air field and specification of the construction are being sought by professionals in the field. +++Item Environmental impact assessment for the reclamation and expansion at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, Hulhulhé, Kaafu Atoll(2014-07) Water SolutionsThis report discusses the findings of an environmental impact study (EIA) undertaken by Water Solutions Pvt. Ltd. at the request of Maldives Airports Company Limited. This EIA report covers for reclamation and Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) expansion project. The reclamation component is to reclaim additional 86 hectares of land at Hulhulhe and undertake coastal protection. The eight hundred and sixty five thousand cubic meters of the fill materials for the reclamation would be borrowed using Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) from borrow sites to be identified by dredging contractor. Reclaimed land would be projected with 9,483 m of coastal protection using various materials. The INIA expansion component includes development of second runway east of existing runway, development of a new terminal building on western side of the island and creation of a new fuel farm. The Ibrahim Nasir International Airport is located on the Hulhulé Island which is formed on a large reef in the south eastern side of North Malé Atoll. The Hulhulé Island was reclaimed and constructed in year 1964 for creation of airport and now services the majority of visitors to Maldives. Hulhulé Island is located at about 6km North-East of Male’. Hulhumalé and Farukolhufushi islands are also located in the same reef system. The expansion and modernization Project will increase both the number and efficiency of the aircraft gates, and increase and reallocate the terminal building to achieve higher effective capacity. The project aims at optimizing the airport landside and airside areas and thereby limiting the environmental impact. The sustainable designing approach is to have an efficient runways & taxiway system design along with modern architecture for the International Airport. Environmental impacts of the project were assessed. The reclamation of the shallow lagoon around Hulhulhe would have an impact on the marine environment of the island however, it is not seen that this would be an irreversible impact on the island environment. The impacts of the project result mainly from reclamation work result from sedimentation and changing morphology of the island. During dredging and reclamation activity, impact of sedimentation on inhabited islands, nearby resort and diving sites are a concern that needs to be addressed. The reclamation and coastal protection of reclaimed land would facilitate to undertake the expansion project at INIA. This project would have socio-economic benefits to the Maldives. The socio-economic benefit outweigh the negative impacts of the project on the physical environment of the Hulhulhe especially allowing more land to further expand and develop the island as a modern international airport. Mitigation measures for the anticipated impacts have been identified and outlined in detail, including sedimentation and stagnation control methods and measures for minimizing negative effects of generation of waste. These mitigation measures will have to be followed in order to minimize environmental damage. The details of the project have been established based on the physical development plan that had been developed for INIA. Alternative locations and alternative designs have been investigated for the different components of the project. Further studies need to be carried out to weigh whether the present project design is feasible in terms of costs, durability and safety. An environmental management plan with environmental monitoring has been developed including key elements that require regular checks. This monitoring component need to adhere to and would allow assessing the changes due to the reclamation of additional land at Hulhulhe lagoon. The project involves inevitable negative environmental impacts to the natural environment of the island. However such impacts do not prevent undertaking the project in accordance with the existing plan developed for the INIA. Detail studies need to be undertaken to have a clear understanding of the present condition of the environment and landuse patterns that could facilitate developing a master plan that would help to develop the airport expansion to meet and cater for the future demand.