Following an outcry by members of the public of a possible impact on the environment and on the community with regard to the operation of the quarry at the Civil Construction Company Limited (CCCL), especially during heavy rain fall which happens to have been the case in the last few days, the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment has affirmed that the situation there is under control.
It was the principal climate adaptation officer from the department of Climate Change, Jean Claude Labrosse, who made the statement following a visit at the quarry yesterday morning. He was accompanied by director for environment assessment and permit, within the ministry, Myron Meme.
Mr Labrosse said that the measures in place at the quarry have more or less helped to mitigate the impact on the environment during the heavy rainfall during the past few days.
He noted though that one of the main concerns identified during the visit was a lack of sedimentation points to trap sediments during rainfall and some features such as filter cloths are also missing on some of those present.
“The situation is more or less quite under control from what we have seen from the visit. There are some existing measures that were put in place by CCCL and some of them are adequate and some of them are inadequate of which we have discussed and we will recommend that they implement further measures on the site so that it will be safer and also reduce the impact on the environment and the community especially during heavy rainfall,” said Mr Labrosse, who noted that there need to be more sedimentation points to capture the sediments and prevent them from reaching the lower areas including in the lagoon harbouring the mangroves.
Mr Labrosse said he was happy to note that the company is following the existing measures put in place to ensure that any negative impact being generated by its quarrying activities are mitigated.
He added that the ministry will today present its recommendations to CCCL to further improve on the existing measures in place which will also include an acceleration in the reforestation of open spaces already mined in an effort to cover the scar.
He noted that while the company is operating within the boundaries of its lease agreement, the ministry will continue to monitor its activities to mitigate the impact on the environment.
Source: Seychelles Nation