The planned location for an island made of construction waste overlaps with a dolphin protection area proposed in an earlier study commissioned by the Municipal Affairs Bureau, TDM reports.
The public broadcaster says it has seen confidential documents that say that Macao’s “entire marine area” is critical for the survival of endangered local dolphins and that a sanctuary of more than 30 square kilometres must be created.
The study, conducted by Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-Sen University – one of the country’s top tertiary institutions – appears to contradict local government assurances that the artificial island will be environmentally sound.
[See more: ‘We will not dump solid waste into the sea,’ the government says]
Although the government has been referring to the project as an “ecological island,” it involves building a dyke off Hac Sa Beach – one of Macao’s most scenic stretches of coast – and then using large amounts of construction waste as infill.
The artificial island is seen as a stop-gap solution for Macao’s waste problem, with landfill at capacity.
Environmentalists, including the Hong Kong Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, have accused the Macao government of being misleading about the impact of the project on dolphin habitats.
