State to appeal injunction on Gulhifalhu reclamation
“About 80% of the dredging work has already been completed and the state will lose millions of Rufiyaa every day the work is stopped,” Usham said.
By
Ahmed Mizyal
The state has decided to appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court's interim order staying the dredging of Gulhi lagoon, which is being reclaimed under the previous government's Binnveriya scheme.
A local environmental activist had filed the lawsuit with the Civil Court claiming that the dredging of Gulhifalhu was causing irrevocable damage to the environment, and she had sought a temporary injunction which was originally denied by the lower court. The High Court issued the interim order when the case was appealed.
Attorney General Ahmed Usham said in an X post on Wednesday evening that the Gulhi project is almost completed and worth billions of Rufiyaa.
“About 80% of the dredging work has already been completed and the state will lose millions of Rufiyaa every day the work is stopped,” Usham said.
"The state has now decided to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court”.
The country's first appellate court overturned the lower court's decision to reject the injunction saying that if the case drags on, the damage to the environment from the dredging would be irrevocable.
Summary of the case
The case was filed after the dredging work commissioned to Boskalis began in June 2020. In the civil case, Humaida's lawyer said the project would cause irreparable damage to the southwest lagoon, the surrounding area and some protected underwater areas. Thus:
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The project is extremely damaging to the country's natural environment and biodiversity, weakening the economy and social benefits that could be reaped from it to an irreparable extent
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A project opposed to decentralization
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It's a highly debt-ridden and anti-constitutional project at a time when the world is facing an economic slowdown
For these reasons, Humaida has asked for the project to be stopped.
