Call to stop to B. Atoll projects that will harm environment

Resilience Maldives yesterday  called to bring a stop to the other government projects that are to take place in Baa Atoll due to the environmental damage it would cause.

Resilience Maldives said in a statement they released yesterday that they applaud the government's decision to reverse course regarding the dredging of B. Dhonfanu.

The petition to stop the dredging was started by Resilience Maldives and had garnered 5,000 signatures, of which include various environmental organizations both local and international.

Resilience Maldives said that the dredging of Dhonfanu is just one of the government's projects that would bring harm to Baa Atoll's environment. They also said that there are many more projects that have been announced and even they need to be brought to a halt.

Among them, one of the projects is to build an airport in Thulhaadhoo by dredging 44.7 hectares of land and building a resort at an uninhabited island in Goifulhafehendhoo Atoll.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu handed the Thulhaadhoo airport dredging project to MTCC during his visit to the island. The project has since begun and is moving forward.

President Muizzu has stated during his visit to Goidhoo that the resort work at Goifulhafehendhoo will be handed to a willing party this month. This is also a Presidential Pledge by the President.

The lagoon around Goidhoo, Fulhadhoo and Fehendhoo is a thing of beauty that has not been seen in any other area, specifically the Coral Garden (Muraka Bageecha) near Fulhadhoo. It has also been popularized with the name of Rose Garden, with it being estimated to be around 500 years old.

If land is dredged near that area, Resilience Maldives fears that the garden would bee damaged.

The organization has stated that they cannot simply watch as national leaders continue to destroy the beauty of the nation for political reasons.

As per Resilience Maldives, dredging is not a sustainable act. A great deal of thought needs to be put into the promises the government makes. While it is the government's duty to carve out the future Dhonfanu residents want for themselves, they must not destroy the environment to achieve it.

Resilience Maldives statement also says that they agree with Dhonfanu residents' when they said that an environmentally feasible path should be explored by the government.

Resilience Maldives has also said in their statement that even though the pre-dredging environmental impact assessment reports or EIA reports describe measures to be taken to mitigate the damage, the measures aren't properly being followed. The statement goes on to say that the government needs to look into this issue and not taking them into account will only bring harm to the environment.

The statement continued on by saying that dredging causes the death of coral reefs and seaweed, along with unforeseeable harm to coral reef systems. 

The organization has called for B. Atoll dredging projects to not move forward without conducting a complete EIA report.