The Environmental Protection Bureau is to release a draft copy of its Environmental Assessment Impact (EIA) report on an artificial island made from construction waste that the government intends to build off the coast of Coloane. The move is part of an upcoming second public consultation on the project’s environmental impact.
According to local media outlets, the report will list the measures that will be adopted to mitigate the impact that the island will have on the environment and also include the publication of survey data relating to the endangered Chinese white dolphin populations that inhabit the area.
The bureau has already stressed that the current location selected for the island is the “most ideal,” saying that it took into account factors relating to geography, water quality and territorial waters.
[See more: Environmentalists propose alternative to Macao’s construction waste island]
Touted as a solution to Macao’s overfilled construction waste landfill, the proposed island has been controversial due to concerns over its environmental impact, especially as it relates to the Chinese white dolphins. Although the government has been referring to the project as an “ecological island” in an effort to sway public opinion, environmentalists point out that it risks compromising the city’s natural environment.
According to the government, the building of the island can help the SAR deal with its construction waste for the next 20 years. However, alternative measures have been suggested, with the chairperson of the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation telling Macao News in April that the authorities should consider constructing recycling stations on a 10 hectare land adjacent to the current landfill.
No dates have been announced yet for the second public consultation.
