HULHULE-MALE’ BRIDGE PROJECT

EIA for the proposed Hulhule-Male’ Bridge Project
Dhiraagu
Date: 17 h June 2015
Time: 10:00 am
Location: Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure, Meeting Room 03
Participants:
1. Hussain Siraj, Civil Project Executive
2. Moosa Ahmed Manik, Act. Director, Network
3. Ibrahim Anwar, Manager, Network
4. Ismail Ziam, Senior Engineer
Consultation with Dhiraagu was conducted on 17th June 2015 at Ministry of Housing and
Infrastructure.
The key points discussed in the meeting included existing infrastructure of Dhiraagu in the
project area, the prospect of relocating the infrastructure, and perceived benefits and negative
impacts on Dhiraagu operations from bridge construction.
Officials from Dhiraagu noted MHI have already shared information with them regarding the
proposed bridge, including location, site of piles and drawings of the area etc. Furthermore
Dhiraagu also had shared important information from their side such as map of their marine
cables.
According to Dhiraagu, the main benefit of the project for them is that the existence of the
bridge will secure telecommunication entry points of both Dhiraagu and Ooredhoo.
Additionally, it will also provide alternative routes for cable connection such as connecting
under the bridge.
When asked about the impacts during the construction stage, it was highlighted that operation of
the construction machinery and any collapse of reef can damage the cables in the area. In order
to minimize the impact, Dhiraagu suggested physical marking of cables during construction
stage as a mitigation measure.
It was also raised in the meeting that Dhiraagu have cables in the proposed project location and
relocating the cables is costly and requires doing some studies of the area, which Dhiraagu has
already started conducting. It was also noted that re-cabling will take at least 2 weeks and during
the process, more than 80% of its network service will be disrupted. Dhiraagu has already
Prepared by: CDE Consulting & China Shipping Environment Technology
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