A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
NGOs have slammed the decision to destroy mangroves to make way for an airport in Kulhudhuffushi, ahead of next week’s official project launch by President Abdulla Yameen. The white clay mangroves, said to be the largest of their kind in the Maldives, are home to endangered species and serve as a natural defence system against […]
Parliament on Monday approved the ratification of the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to reduce the global production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The Maldives’ accession was endorsed with 28 votes in favour from the 85-member house. After boycotting debate and voting on a supplementary budget last month, opposition lawmakers resumed […]
The imminent destruction of Kulhudhuffushi’s mangroves to make way for an airport and ensuing environmental damage have dominated headlines recently. The airport’s development was a major campaign pledge of President Abdulla Yameen. Following is a timeline of events since the presidential pledge. August 12 2013 – Presidential candidate Yameen pledges to build an airport on […]
The Kulhudhuffushi council expects about 2,500 trees and plants to be felled or removed from the island’s mangrove forest for the construction of an airport. With dredging and land reclamation expected to begin in early November, the wetland area in the island’s northern end is now under the authority of the Regional Airports department of […]
Work began Saturday on a controversial airport project on the island of Kulhudhuffushi after fast-tracked environmental regulatory processes. The state-owned Maldives Transport and Contracting Company started digging on the beach near the island’s mangroves for a “bund wall” to mark a boundary for reclamation, a company spokesman told the Maldives Independent. But the deadline for public feedback […]
Special ops dispersed protesters outside the Environment Ministry Thursday ahead of the destruction of mangroves in Kulhudhuffushi to make way for a new airport. The demonstrators gathered outside the ministry with placards, demanding an urgent meeting as plans to raze the mangroves are thought to start on October 30. The protesters raised their concerns with […]
The biodiversity-rich mangrove swamp of HDh. Kulhudhuffushi. PHOTO/ MI HAAZ The endangered species that inhabit the mangrove in the island of Kulhudhuffushi in the northern Haa Dhaalu atoll will be relocated to a place with similar environmental conditions, the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed airport development project, has advised. The government’s revelation that […]
Reclaiming the Kulhudhufushi mangrove to develop an airport on the northern island will cause lasting damage, an Environmental Impact Assessment for the US$11.4 million project has warned. According to the EIA report by private consultant Dr Zahid Hameed, the “considerable negative impacts on the environment” include the permanent loss of habitat for flora and fauna, loss […]
The Environmental Impact Assessment report for developing an airport on Kulhudhufushi after reclaiming the northern island’s mangrove has yet to be submitted, sources from the Environment Protection Agency has confirmed. The government’s plans to begin dredging the environmentally sensitive wetland area sparked an outcry from islanders and environmentalists. Ibrahim Naeem, the EPA’s director general, hung up the […]