Council appeals EPA decision on Anbara with President's Office
The V. Atoll Council has expressed its dissatisfaction with the EPA's decision.
By
Aminath Shifleen
Not satisfied with the decision of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) that the island's owners should not be held responsible for the environmental violations committed in V. Anbara, the atoll council has taken up the matter with the President's Office as well as other relevant institutions.
There have been a lot of complaints from the residents of V. Atoll regarding Anbara, which was leased to a company called ‘Handhuvaru Ocean Private Limited' for 50 years to build a resort. So, the biggest problem the people of the atoll point out is that they have damaged the mangroves in Anbara and covered it with sticks. According to them, most of the trees in the area were cut.
The EPA then went to Anbara in October to assess the extent of damage. But from there, it was decided that the owner should not be held responsible for the damage.
Concluding the case, the EPA said:
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The damages were proved to be not part of the resort development project in Anbara
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Therefore, neither the law nor the regulations enforcing the resort project make the owner of the resort project liable
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That the company has been told that it is not liable for the damage caused
The V. Atoll Council has expressed its dissatisfaction with the EPA's decision. The council has filed a petition seeking reconsideration of the case with the following agencies:
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President's Office
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Tourism ministry
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Environment ministry
In a letter submitted to the institutions requesting to take cognisance of the case, the V. atoll council stated:
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In the area that includes the natural creek and swamp land of Anbara, when it was once considered a picnic island, the buildings built there were demolished and parts of it were dumped into swampland; it is also proven that sand was removed from the beach to dump atop it later as well
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The act was carried out in 2018 using heavy machinery by the company that is now building the resort; many people in V. Atoll will testify to this
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This is definitely the damage caused by human actions and deliberately
Therefore, the V. Atoll Council believes that the EPA's decision that the project developer should not be held responsible for the activities that have been carried out in violation of the environmental law is without taking into account the act and other environmental regulations.
Therefore, the council said that a request has been made on behalf of the people of V. Atoll to reconsider the case.
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