The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has almost completed the bund wall for the state's project to have an airport developed in Kulhudhuffushi island of Haa Dhaal Atoll. 

The heavily controversial project began last month and MTCC's massive dredger, the 'Mahaa Jarraafu' began reclaiming the island on November 1st. 

The Environment Ministry approved the project on 26th October, amid protests in front of the ministry’s headquarters in capital city Malé.

Environmentalists protested the potential destruction of Kulhudhuffushi island’s remaining mangroves, after the other was destroyed for an earlier development project.

Ecocare, a local non-profit, went as far as to claim that the project itself is a violation of Article 22 of the constitution.

The organization had since then filed a case against the Environment Ministry and the Environment Protection Agency, claiming that the destruction of a historic mangrove on the island is a clear violation of statutory guidelines. 

Ecocare has asked for a stay order on the entire project and called on the government to seize its reclamation. 

The Environmental Impact Assessment for the project also revealed it would have ‘irreversable damage done to reclaimed area’. The mangrove itself is one of the ‘environmentally sensitive’ locations marked to be maintained and protected by the state.