EPA heads to police after barge leaves, denying it wrecked on reef

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to file a police complaint after a barge, which ran aground on the reef of Fuvahmulah City, left before the investigation into the incident was complete.

The barge had been carrying material for a mega coastal protection project in the southern city when it ran aground on the reef on Friday, near the makeshift jetty used by the project’s contractor.

EPA’s director general Ibrahim Naeem told Sun that the barge had been refloated and had left before the agency’s investigation to assess the damage from the incident was complete.

“The agent that operates the barge claimed it did not wreck on the reef. EPA has decided to file a police complaint today as the barge left before the investigation is complete,” he said.

Naeem said that though the agent claimed the barge did not run aground, rock boulder the vessel had been carrying had been found on the reef.

He added that photos of the incident proved the barge had run aground on the reef.

The Denmark company MT Hojgaard was contracted to build coastal protection structures in Fuvahmulah City in December 2021, in a project aimed at solving the years-long problem of beach erosion in the populous city.

The barge involved in the incident is operated by MM Export.