Category: Environment

Ihavandhoo islanders to pray for rain after twelve month drought

Haa Alif atoll Ihavandhoo Island Council has called for a communal prayer on Friday morning to pray for relief from drought.

Council President Mohamed Asif told Minivan News that islanders have run out of drinking water and are now relying on store bought desalinated water.

“It hasn’t rained on Ihavandhoo for about a year. Even during the recent rains, Ihavandhoo did not receive the blessing of rain,” he said.

The ‘Isthisqa’ prayer is to be held at the island’s football field.

According to Asif, the island’s groundwater is no longer potable due to the intrusion of saltwater and runoff from sewage.

Ihavandhoo, an island of 3000 people in the country’s northernmost atoll, has reported water shortages every dry season in recent years. Each household has a 2,500 liter tank for rainwater harvesting, but the tanks have run dry due to the prolonged dry season.

Fathimath Zahira, 46, said her three-person household ran out of water last week. She spends approximately MVR60 (US$ 4) on buying water from the store every day.

“God willing, I will go to the prayers,” she said.

Assistant Director at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Afsal Hussein, said water shortages are linked to climate change.

“Changes to global climate are causing shorter wet seasons and prolonging dry seasons,” he said.

The National Disaster Management Center has already transported 100 tonnes of water to the island in recent months. A new shipment is expected to arrive this week.

Water shortages are a recurring problem on several islands and the ministry is now working on a sustainable solution to the problem, Afsal said.

“Right to safe water is guaranteed by the constitution. The main concept we are using is called integrated water management which means managing all available sources of water – ground water, rain water and desalinated water – to solve water shortages,” he said.

Integrated water management includes recharging groundwater aquifers, increasing rainwater harvests and establishing desalination plants.

Ihavandhoo is one of the three islands were an integrated water management project is ongoing. Councillor Asif said the project will be completed at the end of the year and will provide relief from.

A pioneering project to desalinate water using excess heat from electricity generation was launched in Gulhi, Kaafu atoll, in February. The project, with the potential to produce 8000 litres of clean water per day, will be used in other islands should it prove successful in Gulhi.

Meanwhile, several islands in the Maldives have reported “black rain” showers in the Maldives.

The Public Health Unit (PHU) in early May warned Baa atoll Eydhafushi Island residents against drinking or cooking with black rain.

Similar incidents of black colored rain were reported in 2013 Haa Dhaal Atoll Nolhivaram Island and Haa Dhaal Atoll Kurimbi Island, and in Dhaalu atoll Meedhoo Island.

However, little seems to be known about the health implications of this occurrence. Islanders have speculated that the phenomenon maybe acid rain.

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Laamu atoll to set benchmark for climate change development, says UNDP

The United Nations in Maldives launched its new project, the ‘Low Emission Climate Resilient Development (LECReD) Programme’ in Fonadhoo, Laamu atoll yesterday (May 18).

Azusa Kubota, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative, said the ambitious programme would set Laamu atoll as a “benchmark” for future climate-smart and strategic development.

Minister of Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim echoed the statements of Kubota, stating that the programme would play a pivotal role in shaping the future development of Laamu atoll, paving way for more climate-resilient projects in the social and economic sectors of the atoll.

The 3-year-long initiative seeks to contribute to the existing local development framework by enhancing the capacity to support low-carbon lifestyles, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction in the Maldives.

The US$9.2 million programme will be implemented as a collaborative effort by local organisations, the UNDP, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNFPA, UN WOMEN, the WHO and the FAO.

It is the first joint implementation programme undertaken by the UN in the Maldives, and signals the adoption of a new holistic approach to address localised impacts of climate change in the Maldives, according to the LECReD press statement.

The Government of Denmark, who is funding the project, have a history of supporting the Maldives in climate change awareness and mitigation programmes.

In 2009 Copenhagen supported the Maldives in order that the government could attend the crucial climate change summit, just one day after the former president Nasheed announced that country lacked the funds to participate.

Furthermore, in 2010 Danish ministers announced they would assist with climate mitigation in Maldives during an official visit.

Speaking at a press conference held at the time, officials announced Denmark would fund climate mitigation programs in Kenya, Indonesia and the Maldives as part of its US$40 million ‘fast-track’ climate change initiative.

Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Søren Pind and Minister for Climate Change and Energy Dr Lykke Friis announced they would assist with infrastructure and capacity-building projects in the Maldives.

“In global climate talks there is sometimes the tendency to say ‘If we don’t agree now, we’ll just agree next year.’ But if anyone suffers from that illusion they should come to the Maldives, because here you get an education that action is needed now,” said Dr Friis.

Following the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, Minister Thoriq called for a cap on global temperature rise, and pledged to increase renewable energy to 30% in the next 5 years.

“Averting catastrophe is still possible,” he said in response to the panel’s argument that the world was ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate.

After reports of collapsing glaciers leading to a potentially increased rate of sea-level rise were reported last week, local NGOs suggested that the Maldives was “not prepared at all” for the projected consequences.

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Maldives “not prepared” for repercussions of collapsing Antarctic glacier

The Maldives “is not prepared at all” for the projected acceleration of sea level rise caused by the collapse of a glacier system in Western Antarctica, local environmental groups have said.

Two separate studies, by Nasa and the University of Washington, reported on Monday that unstable glaciers in the Amundsen Sea contain enough water to raise global sea levels by at least four feet, or 1.2 meters, in the coming centuries.

The melting of the Thwaites glacier – caused by warmer global temperatures – has begun and cannot be stopped even with drastic action to cut greenhouse emissions, scientists have warned.

The Maldives archipelago is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change, with 80 percent of its 1,200 islands lying no more than a meter above sea level.

The collapse of the glacier has prompted international concern for the future of the archipelago, with financial news organization Bloomberg advising readers to “take that Maldives vacation you’ve been promising yourself — before it’s too late.”

“The issue is very big, it cannot be ignored like this. The government is not doing very much,” Ecocare member Maeed Zahir said.

The unexpected acceleration of the rise in sea level puts both the land mass and the people of Maldives at risk, he said.

“Its not only about submersion, it is also about the livelihood of the people. There will be an alarming impact on fisheries,” he noted. “Health issues will also come under impact. When the tides and water flood the island there will be water borne disease.”

Contingency Plans

Meanwhile, environmental advocacy group Bluepeace has called on the government to make contingency plans immediately.

Bluepeace founder Ali Rilwan argued “elevated adapted islands” where islands are raised by three meters through reclamation or buildings are raised on three-meter high stilts are the only solution for the Maldives.

“We cannot depend on the outcome of the international negotiations,” he said. “We have to find our own survival.”

Other measures include creating water villages, he added.

The organisation has recently also called for better conservation and management of reefs, wetlands, sea grass beds, and coastal vegetation as global warming pushes the Maldives into “uncharted waters.”

Former President Mohamed Nasheed had previously suggested relocating the Maldivian population to higher ground.

He told the Guardian in 2008 “We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to buy land elsewhere,” naming Sri Lanka, India and Australia, as possible spots for a refuge. “It’s an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome,” he added.

The Minister of Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim was not responding to calls at the time of press.

Climate Change policy

The current administration’s policies on climate change have been hard to define.

The Environment Ministry has announced a number of initiatives to minimize the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, including a pledge to convert 30 percent of all electrical use to renewable energy, and the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP) set to “transform the Maldives energy sector.”

However, President Abdulla Yameen has also pledged to explore for crude oil in the Maldives as an alternative means of diversifying the economy and supplementing fuel supply.

Criticising Yameen’s policies, Rilwan said: “Politicans are always likely to focus on economic development. They are totally aware [of climate change] but because of short term political gain, they do not think of long term survival.”

The Thwaites Glacier

Researchers said that although sea level rise could not be stopped, it is still several centuries off, and potentially up to 1,000 years away.

Speaking to the Guardian, The University of Washington researchers stated that the Thwaites glacier acts as a dam that holds back the rest of the ice sheet. Once Thwaites goes, researchers said, the remaining ice in the sheet could cause another 10 to 13ft (3 – 4 meters) of global sea-level rise.

The latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that the effects of global warming are “Risk of death, injury, and disrupted livelihoods in low-lying coastal zones and small island developing states, due to sea-level rise, coastal flooding, and storm surges.”

The report projected sea level to rise between 0.22 and 0.44 meters by the mid 2090s based on projections of thermal expansion and melting of alpine glaciers.

In light of the Thwaites discovery, the rate of sea levels will double compared to the original IPCC predictions, glaciologist for the British Antarctic Survey Hamish Pritchard predicted.

Photo by Jim Yungel/NASA Photograph

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Experts in the dark on effects of Meedhoo reef crack

The long-term effects of a crack in Dhaalu Atoll Meedhoo Island reef are unknown, experts have told Minivan News.

The crack – 5 inches wide running at least 13 meters deep – was discovered on the reef slope this week in the aftermath of a 20-hectare reclamation project. Reefs protect shorelines from storm surges and are hotspots for marine biodiversity.

Although cracks have previously been reported on Malé City and Thilafushi Island reefs, there have been no studies on their impacts, environmentalist and dive instructor Azim Musthag told Minivan News.

“This is concerning because we do not know what the long-term effects of cracks caused by industrial action are,” he said, noting that cracks sometimes do appear naturally in the reef.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy has said it is unclear if the crack was caused by reclamation work, and said a team from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is currently on the island to investigate how the crack was formed as well as its possible long-term effects.

Even if the crack was caused by reclamation, there might not be any cause for concern with work already completed, environmental expert at CDE Consulting Ahmed Shaig said. But, possible extreme negative effects could be the collapse of parts of the reef slope, he said.

A 2007 study of the cracks in the northeastern slope of the Malé reef projected that the island’s reef edge may retreat if eroded parts of the reef fall in.

The study by former deputy director at the Environmental Research Center Mahmood Riyaz said Malé City’s reef slope consists of hard coral rock in the first two- three meters called cap rock, and a layer of weakly cemented and highly erodible mixture of coral sand at between four and six meters.

The cracks had removed the hard cap layer, exposing the weakly cemented layer to further erosion, and “eroded parts are expected to fall into the atoll lagoon and cause further retreat of the reef edge,” the study said.

The Malé reef had cracked in areas under a lot of weight and subject to continuous vibration generating work such as construction, the study said.

Meedhoo Councillor Abdul Azeez said he too was unsure if the crack was caused by reclamation, but said the project had caused severe damage to the reef due to sedimentation.

Only 100 feet remained between the new shoreline and the reef edge, “so sedimentation is unavoidable,” Azeez said. But he welcomed the reclamation project saying “this is a dream come true after 22 years.”

Sedimentation had been caused by dredging company Royal Boskalis Westminster’s failure to build a barrier to prevent excess dredge from spilling on to the reef. Photos show healthy corals inundated by sand across large swathes of the reef.

Azim said the reef would take years before it began recovering and said it might be at further risk of sedimentation by sand spillover if the new shoreline is left unprotected.

The reclamation project has come under fire for using a method called the rainbow technique, which propels sand and salt through the air, covering houses and shoreline vegetation in dredge soil. The fine sand particles thrust into the air may cause respiratory issues, the Health Protection Agency has warned.

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JICA completes US$11 million solar energy project

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has completed the “Project for Clean Energy Promotion in Malé” with the installation of solar panels at the Ministry of Finance and Treasury today.

Some 740 solar panels were installed in 12 government buildings in the capital under the US$11.1 million (MVR141.5 million) grant aid solar energy project launched in December 2011.

In the first phase of the project, solar panels capable of generating 400 kilowatts of solar power were installed in the President’s Office, the Maldives Centre for Social Education (MCSE), the State Electricity Company (STELCO), Thaajuddeen School, and Hiriyaa School.

While solar panels were installed in the Maldives National University, Kalaafaanu School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ghiyasuddin International School, and the Velaanaage in the second phase of the project, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and the Hulhumalé hospital received solar panels in the third and final phase of the project.

Of the four schools, Kalaafaanu, Ghiyasuddin, and Hiriya were constructed with Japanese grant aid while Thajauddeen was reconstructed with Japanese grant aid and reopened in June 2004.

The grant aid agreement for the solar energy project was signed in March 2010.

The project was based on a feasibility study conducted by JICA – the Japanese government’s bilateral donor agency – from February to November 2009 at the request of the Maldivian government during the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The project was designed to contribute to the Nasheed administration’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2020.

Then-President Nasheed launched the project in December 2011 by personally installing panels on the roof of the President’s Office.

Nasheed had previously installed 48 solar panels on the roof of his official residence, Muleeage, provided gratis by LG Electronics Californian company Sungevity.

At the launching ceremony of the JICA-funded project, Nasheed said a transition away from fossil fuels would increase the energy efficiency of the Maldives by 20-30 percent by the end of 2013.

Low carbon development

Speaking at a function at the Finance Ministry this morning to mark the conclusion of the project, Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim observed that the Maldives spent US$487 million a year or 31 percent of GDP annually on importing oil.

The figure is expected to rise to US$700 million by 2020.

According to the Maldives Customs Service, of the MVR7.2 billion (US$466.9 million) worth of goods imported in the first quarter of 2014, one-third was spent on petroleum products.

As the domestic economy was adversely affected by the high cost of oil imports, Thoriq stressed the importance of reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels whilst increasing investment in renewable energy.

The government’s target was generating 40 kilowatts of power across the country from renewable energy sources during the next five years, the environment minister revealed.

The government will seek assistance from international partners and private parties for investment in renewable energy, he added.

Japanese Ambassador Nobuhito Hobo meanwhile pledged assistance for similar renewable energy projects in the Maldives.

At a workshop last week, Environment Minister Thoriq revealed that the government was working on a low carbon development strategy to improve energy security.

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Boskalis committing “environmental crimes” in UNESCO biosphere reserve, says Ecocare

Netherlands based maritime infrastructure company Royal Boskalis Westminster is committing “serious environmental crimes” in the Maldives, a local environmental group has said.

The company – claimed to have the world’s largest dredging fleet –  has come under fire for mining sand from the country’s only UNESCO biosphere reserve in Baa Atoll.

It also failed to build a barrier to prevent excess dredge soil from spilling onto the reef in Baa Atoll Eydhaushi Island – a move that could cause serious damage to the fragile ecosystem.

“Boskalis has to leave the Maldives now,” Ecocare founder Maeed M. Zahir told Minivan News.

The US$ 37 million four-island reclamation project has reclaimed 20 hectares in Dhaalu Atoll Meedhoo Island in March and 33 hectares in Baa Atoll Eydhafushi Island last week. Work is ongoing on Kaafu Atoll Thulusdhoo Island while a date for reclamation in Dhaalu Atoll Kudahuvadhoo Island has not yet been set.

In the two islands where reclamation was completed houses and vegetation on the shorelines were also covered in fine mixture of sand and salt due to the use of the “rainbow technique” which propels soil into the air.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has previously said fine sand particles thrust into the air by the rainbow technique could cause lung and respiratory issues.

Housing Ministry complicit

Maeed accused the Housing Ministry of being complicit in Bosaklis’ violation of environmental regulations, noting the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) had issued several warnings ordering the company to stop unsafe dredging.

“The Housing Ministry’s failure to stop the project means the ministry is pushing Boskalis. By the time, the EPA warnings arrive, the damage is already done,” he said.

Minister of Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim told Minivan News the EPA is investigating the case.

According to Maeed, the EPA had said it will impose a fine on Boskalis, but the agency has failed to do so. He called for the EPA to be removed from the Environment Ministry’s remit and given greater powers as an independent body to prevent violations in the future.

Boskalis began dredging in Meedhoo in March, but the EPA halted the project temporarily for failure to follow procedures recommended in an environmental impact assessment report.

Instead of using pipelines to transport dredged sand to the shore, Bosaklis dredgers propelled sand and salt through the air covering houses and vegetation on the shoreline in debris.

Housing Minister Mohamed Muizz told local media at the time that safety measures would be followed in the future.

However, Boskalis used the same techniques in Baa Atoll Eydhafushi Island, and furthermore, dredged sand from the UNESCO biosphere reserve and transported it to Thulusdhoo Island in Kaafu Atoll for ongoing land reclamation.

Eydhafushi residents spotted a Boskalis dredger carrying sand away from the island this weekend, and raised the issue with the EPA.

Eydhafushi Island Councillor Mohamed Riza said the company had not sought permission from the local government to mine sand from the atoll.

Baa Atoll was declared a biosphere reserve in June 2011. It is the first of it’s kind in the Maldives.

President Abdulla Yameen inaugurated the Thuludhoo reclamation project this morning.

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Environment Minister pledges to minimize Maldives dependence on fossil fuels

Minister of Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim has called for increased investment in clean energy in the Maldives and pledged to minimize the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.

The government is working on a low carbon development strategy to improve energy security and strengthen the economy, Thoriq told participants of a one-day workshop at the Nasandhura Palace Hotel this morning.

The Environment Minister’s announcement comes at a time when President Abdulla Yameen has called for investment in oil exploration in the country.

Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr Mohamed Shainee told Minivan News in late April that at least one investor is scheduled to visit the Maldives for discussions on exploration. Shainee had assured potential investors of presence of oil in the Maldives at a recent investment forum in Singapore.

However, Thoriq today expressed concern over “the vulnerability of the Maldivian economy due to high dependence on fossil fuels.”

The country spends 30 percent of its GDP on importing fossil fuels, he said. In 2012, the Maldives had spent US$ 486 million on oil imports, and the figure is estimated to increase to US$ 700 million by 2020.

Lying just a meter above sea level, the Maldives is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather events.

Thoriq has previously said the government will convert 30 percent of daily peak electrical load to renewable energy.

“Maldives is committed to introduce cost-effective renewable energy as part of a diverse, low carbon and secure energy mix in our low carbon development. We are determined and actively working towards making 30 percent of daily peak electrical load of all populated islands to renewable energy within next five years,” he said in a statement on April 14.

The workshop at Nasandhura was held to present an assessment – carried out by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) – on the potential of low carbon development in the Maldives. Minivan News was unable to obtain the document from the Environment Ministry at the time of press.

According to a press release, the assessment will help the government “make an informed contribution to climate negotiations ongoing or the new climate agreement set to be agreed in Paris in 2015.”

An official from the Environment Ministry told Minivan News that the Maldives policy on climate change has not yet been set, but said that a draft is currently under review. He said the climate change draft policy framework consists of five goals; sustainable financing, low carbon development, adaptation and opportunities, advocacy and awareness, and sustainable development.

Thoriq has previously said the Maldives will call for global temperature rise to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celcius.

In 2009, Global leaders recognized “the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below two degrees Celsius” to combat climate change.

Earlier this week, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that too many stakeholders are still “sitting on the fence”, as he challenged participants at a climate conference in Abu Dhabi to make bold political decisions to combat climate change.

“Change is in the air. I challenge you to be part of that change – to be at the head of the race,” he encouraged.

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“Black rain” in Eydhafushi unsafe for use

The Public Health Unit (PHU) has warned Baa Atoll Eydhafushi Island residents against drinking or cooking with rainwater following a “black rain” shower on Tuesday.

Similar incidents of black colored rain were reported in Meemu Atoll Kolhufushi Island in 2011, and Haa Dhaal Atoll Kulhudhuffushi Island in 2006.

In 2013 there were further reports on Haa Dhaal Atoll Nolhivaram Island and Haa Dhaal Atoll Kurimbi Island, and in Dhaalu Atoll Meedhoo Island.

However, little seems to be known about the health implications of this occurrence. Islanders have speculated the phenomenon maybe acid rain.

“We advise people not to use the water for drinking or cooking, but they might be able to give it to their plants,” a Health Protection Agency (HPA) official told Minivan News.

The HPA said they have not observed any negative health effects from black rain yet.

Islanders are heavily dependent on rainwater for cooking and drinking, but many are now turning to store-bought mineral water as reserves run low in the dry season.

Senior Community Health Officer at Baa Atoll Hospital Sidqi Abdulla told Minivan News islanders were not concerned about threats posed by polluted water to their water supplies as the black rain was only seen on some parts of the island.

“This is the first time we’ve seen black rain in Eydhafushi,” he said.

However, he noted increased water insecurity in the island due to intrusion of saltwater into groundwater.

Although state officials have yet to confirm the reason for the black rain, research carried out by University of California’s Professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan indicates there is ten times more pollutants in the air mass north of the Maldives compared with the south.

The Cloud Aerosol Radiative Forcing Dynamics Experiment (CARDEX) carried out in 2012 suggests that soot and carbon from India are captured in ‘brown clouds,’ which drift over the North of the archipelago.

This pollutant layer, he argues, is an insidious mixture of soot, sulphates, nitrates and ash, Ramanathan has said.

Only the southern tip of the long island chain enjoys clean air coming all the way from Antarctica.

“The stunning part of the experiment was this pollutant layer which was three kilometre thick, cut down the sunlight reaching the ocean by more than 10%,” Ramanathan said in a BBC interview.

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Environmental regulations violated in Eydhafushi dredging: EPA

Environmental regulations were violated in dredging work conducted on the island of Eydhafushi in Baa atoll, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) said today.

Speaking to Minivan News, EPA Director General Ibrahim Naeem said the agency is currently investigating violations of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) terms during the dredging.

Naeem said the main issue was failure to build a “bund wall” to contain excess dredge spoil from spilling into the ocean, an issue which also came up last month in the dredging of Meedhoo in Dhaalu atoll.

The Meedhoo project was halted by EPA for noncompliance with EIA requirements, while the Health Protection Agency warned of possible health risks caused by unsafe dredging.

Using the rainbowing technique – the propulsion of materials through the air in a high arc – rather than using pipelines to take the the sand closer to the land, left a large part of the island’s shoreline vegetation and many houses near the beach covered in fine sand and sea water.

As the Eydhafushi project is expected to be concluded in three days, the EPA has not sought not to halt the dredging as was done with the Meedhoo project,

Naeem however assured that all necessary action will be taken in accordance with laws and regulations.

“Everything should be done in accordance to the regulations, we are trying to minimise the [environmental] impact. Our intention is not to become an obstacle to these projects, not to stop them. We all want development, but we need to protect the environment. It is the environment that we sell and we depend on,” Naeem said.

He said following the Meedhoo incident, the agency advised the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure to ensure that Eydhafushi dredging is carried out in accordance to regulations.

“We will not let another project go on like this, we will take action under article 6 [of the Environment Protection and Preservation Act],” he said.

The article authorises the EPA to stop ongoing projects to prevent any negative impact on the environment.

The project aimed at reclaiming 25.79 hectares land at Eydhafushi is funded by the state budget and implemented by Netherlands’ Boskalis International.

Yesterday, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Dr Mohamed Muiz said the project will be completed within four days. The minister was unavailable for comment at the time of press.

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

Eydhafushi is an inhabited island of Baa Atoll, which was declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2011.

According to the EPA, Eydhafushi falls into the ‘transitional area‘ of the reserve, which under the “Statutory framework of the world network of biosphere reserves” has to be an area where “sustainable resource management practices have to be promoted and developed”.

“Since it is a biosphere reserve there are certain standards have to be met, even in buffer zones and transitional areas. Developmental activity should be carried out in an environmentally sustained manner, it should go beyond the usual acceptable standards with mitigation as well. We should maintain the terms which were agreed upon with UNESCO. They will be monitoring the situation,” Naeem said.

Naeem said it was likely for UNESCO to take action if the terms are not met.

Mohamed Aslam, who was the Minister of Environment and Housing when Baa Atoll was declared a biosphere reserve, said it was disheartening to see such violations by the state, noting that it was particularly sensitive since the incident has taken place within the biosphere reserve.

“Development and human intervention will always have an impact, but some practical mitigation measures to minimize the impact are agreed upon through the EIA process,” Aslam said, stressing that the Ministry of Housing must follow these measures and should also be held legally accountable for failure to do so.

“We [the Maldivian Democratic Party government] also used the same methods and reclaimed a number of Islands through the same company. There was Kulhudhufushi, Velidhoo, Thulhaadhoo, Hinnavaru Dhidhoo, GulhiFalhu. We took all the environmental mitigation measures. It can be done. It is disheartening to see a government which pledged to obey laws doing this, one ministry disrespecting the mandate of another like this,” Aslam said.

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