Maldives greenlights destructive dredging to build housing and luxury resorts
Published on 25/03/2022, 3:15pm
The president is approving a $147 million land reclamation project on Addu atoll, despite warnings of “irreversible damage” to the environment
Addu is made up of thin strips of land surrounding a lagoon. (Photo: Ibrahim Asad/WikiCommons)
By Joe Lo
The president of the Maldives is set to sign off a multimillion dollar land reclamation project this weekend, despite warnings of the destruction it will wreak on coral, fish and seagrasses.
Developers plan to pump 7 million cubic metres of sand and mud from a central lagoon to build five four-star resorts and extend urban areas of Addu, the southernmost atoll of the Indian Ocean state.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will approve the intensive development on a visit 25-28 March, The Times of Addu reports. The project is popular with islanders hoping for jobs and better housing but comes at the cost of “significant irreversible damages” to the lagoon and surrounding reefs, according to a 751-page environmental impact assessment (EIA).
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2022/03/25/maldives-greenlights-destructive-dredging-to-build-housing-and-luxury-resorts/
