1 PROJECT PARTICULARS

1.1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project consists of the setting up and operation of a rock quarry over a portion of
land of 166,057m
2
, at Saint J ulien dHotman as indicated in the Location Plan enclosed
at Annex 1A at the end of this Section.
The project involves the setting up of a rock quarry with a view to extracting rock for
conversion into aggregate and rocksand at the existing Gamma Materials Ltds stone
crushing plant located within the same site as the rock quarry.
1.2 PROJECT SITE
The project site is located at Saint J ulien dHotman in the district of Moka/Flacq and is
bordered as follows:
To the north: by the existing stone crushing plant and further north by Chassee
Gaulette Serres belonging to FUEL Sugar Estate
To the south: by a common party road and sugar cane fields
To the west: by a common party road and by UBP Ltd
To the east: by land belonging to FUEL Sugar Estate covered with tall grass
and few trees
A Site Plan of the project site is enclosed at Annex 1B at the end of Section 1.
1.3 PROJECT INITIATOR
The initiator of the project is Gamma Materials Ltd which is a sister company of
Gamma Civic Ltd, a well-known vertically-integrated Mauritian company having built
up its experience in rock extraction, stone crushing and associated activities over several
decades.
1.4 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
The need for rock quarry is dictated by the necessity to maintain an adequate medium
and long term supply of raw material essentially for the construction industry,
particularly as a substitute to surface boulders presently being collected from sugar cane
fields, this source of rock being a very limited resource.
Raw material for the production of aggregate in Mauritius has traditionally been
obtained up to now from basalt boulders, which had been collected and piled up in the
preparation of sugar cane fields for cultivation over an appreciable number of years.
This has been mutually convenient to the aggregate producers and the sugar cane
planters/owners because it served the interest of both parties. However, apart from the
northern region where such boulder heaps can still be seen and are available, this source
of raw material is becoming scarcer with time. If no alternative resource is identified in
the short term, the construction industry may end up experiencing a major bottleneck in
its growth.
Estimates show that the consumption of boulders has increased from 1 million tonnes
per year in 1986 to a present level of 4 million tonnes per year i.e. a four-fold increase
over a time span of 18 years. The consumption over the past 15 years has been
estimated at 40 million tonnes, of which 30 million tonnes were obtained from surface
boulders, the rest coming from de-rocking schemes and quarrying.
As Mauritius develops economically and culturally, the demand for construction and
building work also grows. All such work creates a need for building and road materials
such as aggregate, concrete, concrete blocks, mortar, asphaltic concrete etc. It has been
proven world-wide that the more developed a nation becomes, the higher this demand
becomes.
The construction sub-sectors which are the highest consumers of building material may
be listed as below:
Roads and Airport runways
Harbour, port and associated works
Industrial and office developments
Hotels and touristic developments
Dams, water and waste water treatment plants, reservoirs
Domestic dwellings, high-rise apartment buildings, low-cost housing schemes
Sports and leisure complexes
Thus, the importance of the raw material for production of aggregates and rock sand is
clear. An increased demand combined with cessation of coral sand extraction activities
and finite reserves of boulders will result in short fall of supply against demand in the
foreseeable future unless alternative means are explored to meet the demand. Thus rock
quarrying is a perquisite for development in Mauritius as a source of raw materials for
the production construction materials.
1.5 SOURCE OF MATERIALS
At the present time, the sources of building material in Mauritius can be broadly
identified as:
Surface boulders which have been raked into piles
Sub-surface boulders which need to be ripped and bulldozed
Quarried rock
Note: Other sources such as lagoonal coral sand and coral sand from inland quarries
have now discontinued.
These potential sources of materials have been able to meet the demand and satisfy the
country's needs to date. However, due to a variety of factors, their output alone will be
insufficient to maintain the required rate of supply without increasing the number of
rock quarries. The validation of such an argument is highlighted as follows:
(i) Surface and Sub-Surface Boulders
Surface and sub-surface boulders have been the mainstay of supply until the
recent past. Their exploitation has been mutually convenient for both aggregate
producers and agricultural producers. However, the continued removal of these
boulders has initially concentrated along the western slopes from Pointe Aux
Sables southwards and immediately north of Port Louis. Further north and
towards the east the large piles have virtually disappeared. Derocking programmes
have substantially augmented the available feedstock beyond the 20 million
estimated in a survey carried out by Dr. Baguant of the University of Mauritius in
the late 1980's but even so, their availability is unlikely to be sustainable in the
medium term. Equally important is the fact that the areas adjacent to the urban and
industrial conurbations are now devoid of boulders necessitating longer haul
distances. Increase in transportation distances produces the dual negative effect of
increasing product costs and aggravating traffic congestion, which along certain
main stretches is already reaching alarming levels particularly during peak hours
(ii) Material Quality
As the boulder stock reduces in quantity, the quality of the raw material also
decreases. The more porous boulders, originally rejected, are now having to be
considered for some applications if no alternative source is available, which will
result in a reduction in quality of the finished product. This coincides with a
policy of increased quality requirement and the conflict between the two
parameters is obvious, and unacceptable.
(iii) Lagoonal Coral Sand
Lagoonal coral sand has historically provided some 350,000 tonnes per year i.e.
10% of the total needs. However, the adverse environmental impacts of such a
practice have now been recognised, which have prompted the Government to
legislate in favour of the stoppage of extraction from the surrounding lagoons in
2001.
Some of the reasons behind the governmental decision can be cited as follows:
The economic value of coral sand to the tourist industry, in terms of beach
and hotel resort, and recreation for the indigenous population, far out-
weighs its value as a mere construction material.
The resulting beach erosion and increased seawater turbidity have a severe
negative effect on the food chain, marine life and fish population.
The sand extraction from the lagoon is very much labour intensive and thus
tends to be uncontrolled, and prohibitive in cost.
Thus it is believed that the government has quite rightly taken measures to
phase out the practice of lagoonal sand extraction and halt the depletion of a
valuable natural asset.
(iv) Inland Sand Quarrying
Inland coral sand quarries only contributed some 100,000 tonnes per year and
reserves have drastically diminished. Environmental consequences have
prompted the Government to legislate against it.
From the foregoing it can be appreciated that measures need to be taken to
provide alternative sources and the only viable alternative is quarrying.
1.6 ALTERNATIVE
In theoretical terms, the following alternatives to the proposed project exist:
The "Do-Nothing" or "Zero-Option"
An industrial development on the site
An agricultural development
Each of these three options is briefly analysed below.
1.6.1 "Do-Nothing" or "Zero Option"
The "Do-Nothing" or "Zero-Option" automatically implies adopting the "status-quo" as
regards the existing plot of land i.e. leaving it in its present state. A site visit has
revealed that the land is being derocked mechanically and will remain bare at the end of
the derocking activity.
It is well known that bare land very quickly becomes the prey of illegal dumping which
always constitutes an eyesore.
1.6.2 Industrial Development
The utilisation of the site for an industrial development is a reasonable option on
account of the fact that an agro-industrial facility exists in the vicinity. However, the
development of the site into a rock quarry does not irreversibly preclude any industrial
development on the site for the simple reason that after the useful lifetime of the quarry,
the site will be restored and will become available for any future industrial installation.
Hence, the option of exploiting the site for rock quarrying and thereafter using it for an
industrial development is logically a better one compared to the other alternative of
using the site for the installation of an industrial set-up straightaway.
1.6.3 Agricultural Development
The soil configuration over the entire site exhibits a soil nature predominated by a high
rock content which is normally not conducive to any cultivation due to the shallow
topsoil layer, which is underlaid by the prevailing rock layers.
1.6.4 Best Alternative
In the light of evidence compiled above, the best development alternative for the site is
the development of a rock quarry which will exploit its high rock potential for the
sustainable future growth of the construction industry, and which, at completion, will
provide a 147,329m
2
area with a potential for future use and development as an inert
waste complex.
1.7 SIMILAR UNDERTAKING IN VICINITY
On the western boundary of the proposed rock quarry is found an existing crushing
plant operated by UBP Ltd which is presently operating.
1.8 IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
The milestones of a tentative implementation schedule for the project are listed
hereunder:
Submission of EIA... May 2011
Approval of EIA and issue of EIA Licence August 2011
Application for permits and final adoption of
quarrying....................................................................
September 2011
Methodology (concurrent with EIA approval
leadtime.
September 2011
Start of quarrying operations. October 2011
Duration of operations (15 year period) 2026

As can be seen from the above project schedule, the commencement of quarrying
operations on site is very much dependent on the obtention of the EIA Licence. An
appeal in this sense is made to the Department of Environment for a timely
consideration of the EIA dossier.
1.9 OBSERVANCE OF PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
As the reader goes through the report, it will become clear to him that the design,
concept, preparation and the implementation of the project as well as the restoration
programme of the site after the useful life of the quarry project have taken into account
the necessary precautionary measures, as detailed below:
Biological diversity it has been established that the site does not possess any floral or
faunal value, and that possibly the restoration programme can address the improvement
in the valuation of the site, depending on the intended use to which it would eventually
be put by the promoter, who is the rightful owner of the site.
Environmental performance during the collection of baseline data, actual experiments
and tests have been carried out to assess environmental parameters such as noise, being
considered as the key environmental factors in the development of the rock quarry
Safeguard of public health this environmental aspect is obviously linked with
environmental nuisances such as noise. Baseline data collected and actual experiments
and tests carried out have proved that those environmental nuisances are within
manageable limits and will not even be additionally felt by the near-by human receptors.