Maldives: Greater Malé Waste-to-Energy Project

OBJECTIVE

The main objective is to establish an integrated solid waste management system in Greater Malé.

DESCRIPTION

The project will establish a sustainable regional solid waste treatment system in the Greater Malé capital region. The project is designed to reduce disaster risk and improve climate change resilience while creating a cleaner environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The project has the following two components:

Component 1 - Establishment of a disaster and climate resilient regional waste management facility, including construction of a 500-ton per day (tpd) Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant with flue gas treatment, emissions monitoring, bottom ash processing plant, and ash disposal landfill with leachate treatment ponds.

Component 2 - Institutional capacity building in sustainable waste management, environmental monitoring and public awareness.

PROJECT FINANCING

For more information about project financing, please review the project summary.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION

The project will be co-financed with the ADB as lead co-financier, and its environmental and social (ES) risks and impacts have been assessed in accordance with the ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS), 2009. To ensure a harmonized approach to addressing ES risks and impacts of the project, and as permitted under AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), AIIB agrees that the ADB’s SPS will apply to the project in lieu of AIIB’s ESP. AIIB has reviewed the ADB SPS and is satisfied that: (a) it is consistent with AIIB’s Articles of Agreement and materially consistent with the provisions of AIIB’s ESP and the relevant ES Standards; and (b) the monitoring procedures that are in place are appropriate for the project.

Under ADB’s Safeguard Policy, the Project has been categorized as Category A for environment, considering the scale and significance of the environmental impacts and risks, Category C for involuntary resettlement and Indigenous Peoples (which is equivalent to Category A if AIIB’s ESP were applicable). There will be no land acquisition, physical or economic displacement due to the WTE Plant. ADB and AIIB have conducted relevant due diligence and confirmed that no Indigenous Peoples, as defined by ADB’s SPS, were found within the project area. A Land Acquisition and Resettlement Due Diligence (LARRD) Report has been prepared, in accordance with the ADB’s requirements. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) accompanied by an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) has been prepared to address the adverse impacts of the WTE.

The EIA was disclosed on the ADB website in December 2019 and updated in March 2020, and the LARRD report was disclosed in February 2020. The ES documentation has been disclosed by MOE on its website and made available in hard copy in the project area. The executive summary of the EIA has been translated into the Divehi language and disclosed on the same website. The ES documentation has also been disclosed on the AIIB website . A three-tier GRM has been established for the project and the PMU shall notify the public that this will be used for this project. Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by the project may submit complaints to existing project-level grievance redress mechanisms.