HULHULE-MALE’ BRIDGE PROJECT

11 Potential Data Gaps and Assessment Limitations
11.1 Gaps in Information
EIA for the proposed Hulhule-Male’ Bridge Project
The environment of Maldives is generally poorly understood. This may be due to the lack of
detailed studies in the Maldives. Much of the literatures on coral islands are derived from studies
done in the Pacific which unfortunately has very different climatic and geologic settings.
Diminutive knowledge is known about the hydro-geology of the parts of most aquifers that
contain saline water compared to the parts that contain freshwater. Utmost ground-water source
evaluations have been dedicated to instituting the extent and properties of freshwater aquifers,
whereas evaluations of saline water-bearing units have been commonly devoted to determining
the effects on freshwater movement.
Detailed environmental analysis for an EIA is often required to be undertaken in a relatively
short period of time. Give the seasonal climatic variations in Maldives and the differences in
local geomorphologic and climate settings in individual islands such a short time frame is often
too little to assess selected aspects of the environment. This problem is compounded by the
absence of long-term studies in other parts of Maldives. Hence, most EIA’s end up being based
on an environmental snapshot of specific point in time. However, experienced EIA specialists
can deliver a close match to reality based on a number of similar assessments. In this regard, the
following gaps could be identified in information.
− Absence of long-term site specific or even regional data (at least 2 years). Most
critical data include current, wave and terrestrial modification history.
− Absence of historical and long-term records on reef and lagoon environment.
− Lack of detailed data on geology and soil due to time limitation in EIA
submission.
− Lack of current and wave data as the wave and current gauges for the project
are currently deployed in the lagoon and will require some time to extract.
These gaps are seriously considered in the assessment and care has been taken to address the
issue in designing mitigation measures and the monitoring programme.
11.2 Uncertainties in Impact Prediction
Environmental impact prediction involves a certain degree of uncertainty as the natural and
anthropogenic impacts can vary from place to place due to even slight differences in ecological,
geomorphological or social conditions in a particular place.
Prepared by: CDE Consulting & China Shipping Environment Technology
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