EPA rejects Maafaru runway expansion project

The aim of accommodating Boeing 777 twin-jet was “not a valid justification when compared to the long-term environmental and socio-economic negative impacts that would arise from this project,” the EPA concluded, listing 11 reasons for its decision.

Landing of large aircraft was expected to be minimal and reclamation of land for runway expansion would cause “permanent loss of a large area of Maafaru lagoon, affecting the surrounding coral reef ecosystem.” The proposed sand burrow site was a turtle grazing area with a rich seagrass bed home to juvenile marine life, it added, whilst dredging the inner lagoon was likely to cause beach erosion and lead to loss of turtle nesting sites.

An estimated 22,000 trees, a major portion of the island’s vegetation, was also expected to be affected by the airport expansion footprint. If compensation plots were to be allocated from the other end of the island for buildings in the expansion area, “the last remaining mature vegetation on the island would also be destroyed and Maafaru would be left barren of its original mature vegetation.”