The state has begun reclaiming off of Kulhudhuffushi island in Haa Dhaal Atoll, as part of its controversial project to have an airport built there.
The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has brought in its massive dredger, the Mahaa Jarraafu, and built a bund wall around the area.
The Environment Ministry approved the project on 26th October, amid protests in front of the ministry’s headquarters in capital city Malé.
Environmentalists protested the potential destruction of Kulhudhuffushi island’s remaining mangroves, after the other was destroyed for an earlier development project.
Ecocare, a local non-profit, went as far as to claim that the project itself is a violation of Article 22 of the constitution.
“The state shall undertake and promote desirable economic and social goals through ecologically balanced sustainable development and shall take measures necessary to foster conservation, prevent pollution, the extinction of any species and ecological degradation for any such goals” the article states.
The Environmental Impact Assessment for the project also revealed it would have ‘irreversable damage done to reclaimed area’. The mangrove itself is one of the ‘environmentally sensitive’ locations marked to be maintained and protected by the state.
