2. PROJECT SITE LOCATION & DESCRIPTION

Transcription

1 2. PROJECT SITE LOCATION & DESCRIPTION 2.1 PROJECT LOCATION/SURROUNDING The subject site consists of a plot of land of 9ha3,957m 2 at Sainte Croix in the district of Port-Louis and is surrounded by land belonging to sundry owners. The North East boundary of the site adjoins a portion of land belonging to Mr Juggerssursing Bajnathsing (Plate 2.1) while the South East adjoins a state land (Petit Bois 10/293), which is presently under vegetation. The subject site is also under vegetation. The South West and North West boundary of the site adjoins existing common roads. Mr Bajnathsing Land Project Site Plate 2.1: Land belonging to Mr Bajnathsing (left) adjoining the Project Site 4

2 Plate 2.2 and Plate 2.3 depict that the subject site which is presently under vegetation. Plate 2.2: Subject site presently under vegetation Plate 2.3: Subject site presently under vegetation 5

3 A context plan showing the subject site is enclosed in Annex B1, respectively. The context Plan (Annex B1) illustrates the following features, worth mentioning in the context of this EIA report, that exist in the surroundings of the subject site. The Ste Marie Street The Tombeau Père Laval Sainte Croix Village La Cure Village The nearest residential house A secondary school under construction. A company named Exquisite Spices Ltd (Activity involves Packing of Spices). A wedding hall under construction. La Cure CWA Reservoir Sainte Croix and La Cure are fairly well developed clusters with most amenities and facilities that the inhabitants may need. This will attract, particularly, the eventual owners of the residential lots for the proposed morcellement. The villages are inter-connected with a good road network, namely the Ste Marie Road. Morever, other commercial facilities are also available in the Port-Louis region such as Restaurants, Markets and others. The project area is well served with good public transport system, comprising of CNT, UBS and many other private buses, which connects the region with all parts of the island. Plate 2.4 shows buses serving the region. The project area is served from the Bus Terminal situated at Residence La Cure to different parts of the Island. 6

4 Plate 2.4: Public transport serving the region. Educational facilities, comprising of pre-primary, primary and secondary schools, such as Père Laval R.C.A School, Couvent des Filles de Marie and College Père Laval, exist in the nearby villages. Plate 2.5 depicts the Père Laval R.C.A School 7

5 Plate 2.6 depicts the Couvent des Filles de Marie Plate 2.7 depicts the College Père Laval 8

6 The Tombeau Père Laval is also located in Sainte Croix as depicted in Plate 2.8 Plate 2.8 depicts the Tombeau Père Laval Furthermore, the nearest residential house from the project site is depicted in Plate 2.9 NEAREST RESIDENTIAL HOUSE FROM THE PROJECT SITE Plate 2.9 depicts the nearest residential house 9

7 There is a secondary school which is under construction near the project site as shown on the plate 2.10 below. Plate 2.10 showing the secondary school under construction There is a wedding hall under construction near the site as depicted in the plate 2.11 below. Plate 2.11 depicts the wedding hall under construction 10

8 There is also a company named Exquisite Spices Ltd which have made an application for a Building and Land Use Permit to the Municipality of Port-Louis for packing of spices, as depicted on the following plates 2.12 & Plate 2.12 showing the Exquisite Spices Ltd 11

9 Plate 2.13 showing the Exquisite Spices Ltd At a distance of approximately 770m as shown on the context plan, there is an existing CWA reservoir named as La Cure Reservoir which feed the region with potable water and is located along Ste Marie Street. See plate 2.14 below:- Plate 2.14 depicts the CWA Reservoir La Cure Reservoir along Ste Marie Street 12

10 The minimum distances from some selected surrounding features (Annex B1) and the subject site were measured and given in Table 2.1. Table 2.1: Minimum distance between the plot of land and selected features Features Distance (m) Direction from site Emmanuel Anquetil Govt. School 1925 West North-West Nursery 1310 West North-West Ministry of Agriculture 1260 West North-West Police Station 1280 West South-West Market 1385 West South-West Community Centre 1580 West South-West Dispensary 1635 West South-West Socalingum Minatchee Ammen Temple 1650 West South-West Health Centre 1535 West South-West Latanier Bridge 1415 West South-West M.E.D.I.A Complex 1635 West South-West NHDC Complex 1420 West South-West Church 940 South South-West Community Centre 1215 South South-West St Therese RC Church 930 South South-West Central Water Authority 770 South South-West St Gabriel Tech School 440 West South-West Tombeau Pere Laval 630 West South-West Islamic Secondary School under Construction 155 South South-West Nearest Residential House 185 South South-West Residence La Cure Bus Terminal 840 South South-West Wedding Hall under Construction 624 South South-East Exquisite Spices Ltd 390 South South-East Stone Crusher Plant 1040 West North-West 13

11 2.2 OWNERSHIP OF LAND The Promoter Societe Vallee de Sainte Croix acquired the said plot of land of extent 9ha3,957 m² from Societe de Promotion et Developpement on 10 th February 2015 as per enclosed title deed Vol No at Annex B2. The Parcel Identification Number (PIN) Certificate for the said plot of land was obtained on 12 th November 2014 from the Ministry of Housing and Lands. A copy of the certificate is enclosed at Annex B ZONING Based on The Town and Country Planning Act 1954 and The Local Government Act 2011, a Building and Land Use Permit was granted by The City Council of Port Louis on 28 th October 2014 for the excision of a plot of land of extent 52,839m² from an original extent of m², as transcribed in title deed Volume 2161 No. 45, but found to be m² after survey for residential purposes. From the excision of 52,839m² out of the m², the remaining plot of land of extent 93,957m², which is the project site, will be developed by Societe Vallee de Sainte Croix for residential purposes. A copy of the Building and Land Use Permit from The City Council of Port Louis bearing reference BLP2/0115/2014 is enclosed at Annex B4. It is important that we draw the attention that the proposed land development of extent 9ha3,957 m 2, forms part of an original extent of 122 A 91 P which belonged to BRIGHT KNITWEAR LIMITED as per Vol. 956 No. 30. On the 13 th May 1991, BRIGHT KNITWEAR LIMITED, sold the plot to SOCIETE DE PROMOTION ET DE DEVELOPPEMENT as title deed Annex B5, which in turn sold 9ha3,957 m 2 to SOCIETE VALLEE DE SAINTE CROIX as per title deed enclosed at Annex B2. Moreover, on 13 th December 1988, BRIGHT KNITWEAR LIMITED obtained a certificate from the Town & Country Planning Board confirming that the plot of land of extent 122 A 91 P is a residential zone within the town of Port-Louis as per ownership transcribed and registered in Volume 956 No.130, a copy of the said letter is enclosed at Annex B6. 14

12 2.4 NAMES, ADDRESSES AND QUALIFICATIONS OF EIA CONSULTANT The present EIA study is being carried out by Kaselor Ltd, a firm that has a wide experience in the formulation and implementation of morcellement projects and in the carrying out of Environment Impact Assessment studies. The principal of Kaselor Ltd is Mr Selven PERIENEN, B.Tech (Hons), Registered Civil Engineer. Annex B7 shows the authorisation letter from the promoter to prepare this EIA report. 2.4 EXISTING LAND USE The project site is currently under vegetation (Plate 2.2 & 2.3). It does not accommodate any flora and fauna that are of ecological interest. The site does not fall in any environmentally sensitive zone and does not include environmentally sensitive areas such as irrigation zone, wetlands, river courses or springs. 2.6 ACCESS TO SITE Access to the morcellement will be through common roads of 6m wide that are connected to Ste Marie Street. The following plate depicts the Ste Marie Street. 15

13 Plate 2.15: The Ste Marie Street 2.7 INFRASTRUCTURE & PUBLIC UTILITIES Once the EIA licence is obtained, it is expected to receive the Letter of Intent for the proposed morcellement from the Ministry of Housing & Land within a period of 6 months, whereby the promoter and his consultants will liaise with Road Development Authority (RDA), Central Electricity Board (CEB), Central Water Authority (CWA), Wastewater Management Authority, Municipality of Port-Louis and the Traffic Management Road & Safety Unit (TMRSU) to submit the detailed design drawings for the implementation of all infrastructure work to bring all the amenities to the proposed morcellement project. 2.8 CLIMATIC CONDITIONS The island of Mauritius as a whole may be characterised as having a moderately tropical climate. The warmer summer season is also the rainier and lasts from November to April, with February as the wettest month. The summer season is also characterised by tropical cyclones. The winter season, which is cooler and drier, occurs between May and October, with October being the driest month. 16

14 On account of its relief, the island is also characterised by a number of distinct micro-climates with varying levels of rainfall, temperature or humidity. The area where the subject site lies is located at an altitude of about 56m above mean sea level and has annual rainfall levels of the order of 1,400 mm, as compared with the maximum of 5,000mm for the island as a whole. 2.9 GEOLOGY, LANDFORM AND SOIL CHARACTERISTICS The geology of Mauritius is mainly composed of basaltic lavas which originate from volcanic origin. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MSIRI) Land Resources and Agricultural Suitability Map of Mauritius identifies the site for proposed development as forming part of the late lavas of the younger volcanic series which erupted from a chain of some 20 vents. The FAO/MSIRI map classifies the different regions into land units. The proposed site consists of Land Unit namely 2.1. The geotechnical investigation details of the proposed site are more fully described at Annex B TOPOGRAPHY The topography of the subject site with 2m-contour lines is illustrated in the proposed morcellement layout plan, enclosed at Annex C1. The height of the project site, above mean sea level, varies between 24m to 56m, i.e the site slopes towards the North West Site Constraints There is no site constraints Water Resources No streams, canals or rivers exist within the project site. 17

15 2.13 Flora & Fauna In the project area, no known migration route of any animal has ever been reported or observed. No endangered or rare animal species exist in the area. As mentioned earlier in this report, the subject site is currently covered with sugar cane Value of Project Site as Designated site The project site does not fall under World heritage site, Biosphere reserve, National park Cultural heritage The only place of worship that exists within the vicinity of the project site, is the Tombeau Père Laval which is located at 630m from the nearest boundary of the project as depicted above in plate 2.8 and context plan in Annex B1. 18