Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu, announced that a task force on Boracay would soon be formalised to immediately address serious environmental issues the island destination is facing.
The resort island of Boracay will undergo a massive rehabilitation programme to solve a seeping environmental disaster but stakeholders are adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu, announced that a task force on Boracay would soon be formalised to immediately address serious environmental issues the island destination is facing.
The small 10.3-square kilometre island in central Philippines has been beset by congestion and a lack of infrastructure such as a wastewater facility, despite taking in two million visitors last year.
In 2015, DENR personnel found coliform in Boracay’s waters, an indication of a lack of adequate sanitation facilities.
Secretary Teo said Boracay’s problems have already reached alarming levels and vowed to speed up the implementation of a long overdue US$24-million drainage system on the island.
The lack of a proper sewerage system has forced many business establishments on the island to dispose of waste through an obsolete rainwater drainage system that expels the waste out to the sea.
But many stakeholders are skeptical of the initiatives. The Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), a group of business owners on the island, said such promises had been made years ago, but implementation went at a snail’s pace.
“All promises. Boracay has been jilted so many times. But I’m still hoping they will be true to their word,” BFI president Nenette Aguirre-Graf said.