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Item Environmental impact assessment for the proposed mixed residential building in plot no. D2-3, Hulhumale’ – Rainbow Oceanfront Residence(2016-12) Musthafa, AmirThis report is based on the proposed mixed residential building construction in Plot No. D2- 3, Hulhumale’. 12 storeys in the structure will be allocated for residential purposes. The project is being developed and constructed by Rainbow Construction Pvt. Ltd. They are to undertake the construction works and project management including overseeing the EIA process. An Environmental Impact Assessment was necessary for the works as per the requirements of the signed agreement between Rainbow and Housing Development Corporation (HDC), and due to the fact that the structure exceeds 11 storeys as specified in the EIA regulation ‘Jadhuvalu R’ in the list of type of projects for which EIAs are required. In addition to meeting the regulatory requirements, the report would further assist the proponent and important stakeholders to make decisions based on favourable environmental conditions with the main focus on sustainability. The project also adheres to several other rules and regulations in the Maldives and has obtained permit from HDC to proceed. HDC is a 100% government entity being given the responsibility to set guidelines and oversee all developments in Hulhumale’. The project is part of larger program by HDC to establish mixed residential buildings in Hulhumale’. Apartments in these buildings can generally be regarded as being targeted towards middle to lower class members of the community. The project will contribute to the grand plan of reducing congestion in Male’ by providing more moderate to high quality housing opportunities in Hulhumale’. By 2019, it is projected that there will be over 1000 such housing units built in Hulhumale’. The existing environment at the project site does not consist of any significant vegetation and the water test result shows normal water quality. The only large vegetation that will still be removed are the roadside Fithuroanu gas. There are no residents living in close proximity to the site and there is no other structure at the site as well. Therefore, the project will not have any significant impact on a significant receptor. During the construction stage, health and safety standards of the workers at site, and waste generation is the only areas of concern. With proper planning and project management, this can be easily mitigated. Waste is the main concern during the operational stage of the project as well. Since this will be developed as a condominium with multiple tenants owning the rights of the building, it has to be ensured that the tenants are held responsible to properly manage the waste in addition to maintaining the building beyond the 2 years the developer is contractually responsible for. Regarding alternatives, there are no viable alternatives available for the project with respect to location. The no project option is also not plausible at this stage and possibilities are outside the scope of this study. Other alternatives including material, foundation type, construction methodology are not necessarily recommended. Recommendations had been made to proceed with the project as planned.An environmental monitoring plan is proposed to be carried out with 2 phases; one for the construction stage, and one for 2 years post construction. Factors to investigate include surveying the amount of waste generation, noise pollution, traffic flow, health and safety at site and water quality. All the impacts as highlighted in the project can be mitigated. The socio-economic benefits to Greater Male’ City from projects such as these is high. It also provides additional housing opportunities, which would contribute to alleviating the housing issues in Male’ City, and therefore mitigating the issues related to congestion. Thus, after consideration of all these perspectives, it is recommended that this project proceed as planned, after incorporating the mitigation measures given in this study with the commitment to implementing the monitoring plan given.Item First addendum to environmental impact assessment for harbour development project at M. Dhiggaru(2016-10) Water SolutionsThis report discusses the findings of a study undertaken as an addendum to environmental impact study undertaken by Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure for the harbour development project at M. Dhiggaru at the request of Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure. This Fist Addendum to EIA for the Harbour Development Project at M. Dhiggaru report covers fishing vessel beaching area to be developed as additional work for the harbour development project currently being implemented at M. Dhiggaru. This EIA Addendum report is prepared in accordance with Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2012 under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act (Act No. 4/93). The purpose of this EIA is to fulfill the requirement of the Law and to conduct an assessment of possible impacts on environment arising from the proposed fishing vessel beaching area at M. Dhiggaru. The project is at the island of Dhiggaru in Meemu atoll. The island is located at the northern edge of the Meemu atoll. The island is situated in a large reef system. The closest island to Dhiggaru is Madduvari which is about 1 km to the east of Dhiggaru. The harbour development project is proposed by Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure representing the government of Maldives and the Ministry is responsible for all development and regulation of the construction sector. The contractor for the project is Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC). The beaching area for the fishing vessel has been proposed as an extension of the harbor development project at M. Dhiggaru. Currently there is no area for beaching of vessel at the island. This has caused a lot of difficulty for the fishing vessel to undertake dry dock repairs which is routinely required. The island has a population size of approximately 1300. The main economic activity of the island is fishing1 The island of Dhiggaru is famous for “dhiggaru rihaakuru” which provides a good economic income to the community. The project involves dredging of 60 m by 45 m basin area to a depth of -3.0 m MSL, an entrance channel of 20 m wide and 117 m long. The dredging is expected to generate 12,600m3 of dredged material. This dredged material would be used to reclaim 8,400 m2 of area on western side of the island. The new land created would be used for boat repair work. All project activities will be in conformance to the laws and regulations of the Maldives, and relevant international conventions that Maldives is party to. The key laws and regulations applicable to this project are Environmental Protection and Preservation Act and Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation 2012 and its subsequent amendments The study for the addendum to EIA was undertaken to assess the environmental impacts of changes to the harbour development project on the island. The proposed site (lagoon) and entrance channel had no visible live corals and was highly turbid. seagrass is found at the lagoon. Based on the assessment, it has been identified that the major impacts of the project will be felt on the marine environment during the construction stage. Dhiggaru is not a large inhabited island but located on a very large reef system. The development of the beaching area on the island will have impacts on marine environment. During the operational stage, environmental concerns are much less and are associated with waste and wastewater management of the fishing vessels. The mitigation measures are provided in the report with alternatives. It is vital to conduct the activities, during both construction and operational stage, in line with mitigation measures emphasized in the report. Socio-economic impacts of the proposed beaching area development project will help the community to beach their vessel onto the island for dry dock maintenance work. This project will create economic opportunities both in the construction and operational stage through creation of both short-term and permanent jobs and business opportunities. Towards the end of the report, a monitoring programme has been suggested which covers components of coastal and marine environment. It is important to follow this monitoring programme not only to comply with the regulation but also to ensure that the impacts are measured in realistic terms.Item Environmental impact assessment for undertaking sand dredging at Gulhifalhu jetty area, Gulhifalhu, Kaafu Atoll(2016-10) Water SolutionsThis report discusses the findings of an environmental impact study undertaken by Water Solutions Pvt. Ltd. for Gulhifalhu Investment Ltd. The project involves maintenance dredging of the Gulhifalhu Jetty area. The project aims to: Deepen the existing jetty basin Provide safety and protection to the vessels accessing the jetty area Increase the usable area of the jetty Gulhifalhu is an industrial island which lease land plots for different industrial purposes. Many private vessels travel Gulhifalhu to access their sites every day. There is an existing jetty area in Gulhifalhu that is used by these vessels to access the island to load and unload materials. However, now the jetty basin is very shallow due to accumulation of sand in the basin. Some areas of the basin are less than a meter deep making it impossible to moor vessels to jetty. This project aims to dredge this area to provide a safe basin and larger accessible area. Approximate total of 9000 cbm of sand will be dreged from this area. This sand will be stockpiled temporarily in Gulhifalhu and then will be transported to Thilafushi MRDC site for later use. Environmental impacts of this project were assessed and have been identified as resulting from the dredging works. Dredging work will be undertaken using excavators and sand pumps and this is particularly a method that creates lot of sedimentation which is a big threat to the marine environment. Mitigation measures for the negative impacts have been identified and outlined in the report. Completing the dredging works in the shortest time frame and in low tide hours is a significant mitigation measure to minimize the impact of sedimentation on the marine environment. In addition, dredging should be avoided in bad weather conditions. The proposed mitigation measures will have to be followed in order to minimize environmental damage. The measures proposed to minimize or mitigate environmental impacts may be considered to be appropriate, thereby minimizing the impact by about 90%. The main negative environmental impact of the proposed project would be sedimentation and destruction of the lagoon and damage to some areas of the nearby reefs, which will cause partial death of corals in other areas of the coral reef. During dredging works, the sedimentation will also affect the fish species in the vicinity of these areas and hence, their population will drop in areas affected by sedimentation. It is inevitable that there would be negative environmental impacts of this project. As a result, a mitigation and monitoring component has been suggested which takes into consideration, the most important elements that require monitoring, most importantly a mechanism and means to measure and value the social benefit of the project. This monitoring component will be adhered and will allow the assessment of long term changes, despite the potential negative impacts. The dredging of Gulhifalhu jetty area does pose some threats to the marine environment of the area. There will be direct and indirect damage to marine environment in the vicinity of the project site. However there are many positive benefits of the project in long term. This project is justifiable in the light of the positive impacts.Item EIA for construction of K. Villingili west harbour & slipway project(2015-11) Maldives Energy and Environmental Company1. The Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure requested the services of Maldives Energy and Environmental Company (MEECO) to provide an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) for the for the construction of a harbour and a slipway on the western side of Villingili Island, K. Atoll. 2. The assessment addresses specific key issues stated in the Terms of Reference (TOR) as agreed between EPA and the Proponent following the Scoping Meeting held on the matter. 3. This EIA report was prepared for the fulfilment of the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2012 with the purpose of conducting an assessment of possible impacts on biophysical and human environment arising from proposed development project. 4. The project is proposed by Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure, Maldives. 5. The main construction activities of the proposed project involve construction dredging of the existing harbour basin to a depth of 3m at mean sea level. The dimensions are 73m by 21m. A 73m long seawall made from rock boulders will be laid on the reef-flat on the western side of the island. The beach on the northern side of the harbour area will be filled and nourished. The construction activities will be completed within 150 days from the start of the construction phase. The project cost is estimated as MVR 09 million. 6. This development aims to improve the degraded western harbour with additional facilities with the objective of improving country’s critical infrastructures. With the development of the western harbour at Villingili it is expected it would contribute alleviate the issues of the congestion at the Villingilli main harbour and make available critical facilities to the people living in Villingili to enhance their socio-economic development. Villingili with a sizeable population currently lacks a proper waste transfer arrangement. With the development of the slipway, it is expected a critical aspect of the waste management will be resolved thereby bringing environmental as well as health benefits to the community. 7. The consultants assessed the potential environmental impacts using sound scientific methodology, literature review and experiences from the past projects of similar nature. In addition views and opinions of the key stakeholders have been reflected in the report. The main findings have been summarised in the following sub-paragraphs. a. Improving the harbour facility in Villingili will benefit boat owners, fishermen of Villingili in particular and those requiring boat maintenance service in general. b. Environmental impacts assessment carried out for the project indicates that the project can be successfully implemented without an irreversible significant damages to the environment. c. The project, however, has inevitable low magnitude negative impacts, including, sedimentation over parts of the reef, noise and vibration from construction activities, pollution from solid and hazardous waste. In addition, construction activities may result in temporary closure of the beach area with resulting loss of income to small businesses which depend commercial activities centered on the area. Additionally, boat owner who use western harbour may also face difficulties when its closed off for reconstruction. During the operational phase of the project, it is predicted with the proposed design of the harbour water stagnation within the harbour basin is likely to occur and that during southwestern monsoon floating litter could accumulate near the shoreline of the harbour. d. All environmental and socio-economic impacts identified in the report are temporary, localised and can be mitigated with the actions proposed. e. The project is in line with the government’s policies of developing access facilities, improve transport infrastructure and can be implemented in fully compliance with the relevant laws and regulations. 8. The Proponent has given full commitment to undertake mitigation measures and carryout the monitoring to ensure negative effects are effectively mitigated and corrective measures are taken in a timely manner. 9. It is thus concluded that the project’s benefits outweighs its imposition on the environment and it can be implemented while giving due consideration to concerns related to the environment.