Resort owners welcome moratorium on development projects in Boracay
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza has called for a six-month moratorium on development projects on Boracay Island amid alarm raised by business owners and residents over the over-stretching of the island's resources.
Atienza who met with resort owners, residents and other stakeholders on the island on Monday, said construction of new buildings should be suspended until the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) comes up with a new development master plan for the island which would ensure the protection and sustainable utilization of its resources.
He said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will also come up with an environmental protection master plan for the island within the period.
"We need to restore order to the otherwise uncontrolled construction and introduction of new edifices and stop the over-stretching of the facilities especially the sewerage, water, drainage and power systems," Atienza said in a telephone interview.
He pointed out that because of the overcrowding and unhampered construction of buildings, some portions of the island are experiencing flooding especially during the rainy season.
"The only way to do this (control the construction) is to declare a moratorium."
He said the has no legal authority to stop the construction of new structures. But he urged municipal council of Malay, where Boracay is located, to pass a resolution that would suspend the granting of permits to open up new business and construct new structures.
The construction boom on the island has been boosted by the steady increase of tourist arrivals on the island.
Tourist arrivals last year reached 554,181 which is 10. 96 percent higher than 499,457 arrivals recorded in 2005, according to data from the regional office of the Department of Tourism. Tourists who visited the island from January to March this year reached 140,835 or 7.59 percent higher than the 130,897 tourist arrivals in the same period last year.
Boracay's income from tourism reached P10.18 billion last year or 24.44 percent higher than the P8.18 billion earnings in 2005.
The booming business on the island has pushed the price of lands near the famous white beach to at least P45,000 per square meter, if there are still lots available, said Orlando Sacay, chair of the Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), a group of owners resorts, hotels and restaurants on the island
Sacay said they fully support the call for a moratorium on development projects.
"Each week, the municipal council receives from five to six applications for building permits on the island. The island will sink if this goes on," Sacay said in a telephone interview.
He said aside from a stop to the construction of new buildings, there is also a need to control migration to the island that has been promoted by business and employment opportunities.
Half of the island's water supply is already being consumed by residents, said Sacay.
DOT regional director Edwin Trompeta, said a moratorium on development projects on the island would be welcome if this would get the support of the DOT, PTA, local government units and the Boracay Eminent Persons Group, which is mandated to map out policies for the sustainable development of the island's tourism industry.
A moratorium on development projects in Boracay was also proposed by Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano in 2005.
Durano had said that the country's premier tourist destination is in danger of being lost unless the problems of overpopulation, garbage disposal and proper construction are addressed.
Government agencies and stakeholders of the island drafted the Boracay Master Development Plan in 1991 but this has not been implemented despite undergoing revisions.
The International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, which made a study in 2005 on sustainable tourism on the island, had proposed major reforms to ensure the sustainability of the island.
The proposals include developing areas in Caticlan, the jump-off point to the island located in the Aklan mainland, as a major commercial and business district to ease the strain on Boracay's resources.
The IFC also proposed the transfer of a solid waste management facility from Boracay island to Caticlan, the construction of low-cost mainland housing to ease migration and over congestion in Boracay, an improved transport facility between Caticlan and Boracay, the upgrading of Caticlan airport terminal facilities, a Caticlan-based full-service hospital to respond to emergencies, and an agro-industrial center in Caticlan with ice and cold storage facilities and a public market.