ILOILO City – The responsibility to continue the rehabilitation of Boracay Island is now with the provincial government of Aklan and the local government unit of Malay. The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF), whose mandate will end on June 30, officially turned over the task to them yesterday.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), as chair BIATF, spearheaded the turnover ceremony at Wetland 4, Barangay Balabag, Boracay Island.
Boracay’s massive rehabilitation started in April 2018 right after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered it temporarily closed until October of the same year.
DENR acting secretary and BIATF chair Jim O Sampulna said the department would continue to monitoring the progress of all the rehabilitation projects.
The DENR executive, who was once served Western Visayas as the department’s regional director, said he would recommend to incoming President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the continuation of an oversight committee.
The challenge now is for the local government to maintain cleanliness and sanitation, including the discipline of the people, he stressed.
Malay mayor Frolibar Bautista said the people of his town will be faithful to the programs left behind by the task force
“We commit our responsibility…we will see to it that it is maintained and will continue to serve its purpose for the people of Malay,” he added.
Current DENR regional executive director Livino Duran recalled the challenges and even threats from erring Boracay establishments when the rehabilitation kicked off. There was initial resistance. Charges were filed in court, fines were collected.
For his part, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) undersecretary Epimaco Densing recalled that during the first inspection conducted by the taskforce, only 38 of around 1,070 business establishments in Boracay were found to have complete documents required of them to operate.
“We corrected that. If Boracay was not closed and rehabilitated, it would have become the worst beach in the world,” said Densing.
Duran earlier said the rehabilitation of Boracay is the biggest environmental project of the Duterte administration in the region.
He also opined that with the mandate of the BIATF nearing its end, there is a need to go back to the 2018-2022 Boracay Action Plan (BAP) to look into whether more should be done as far as the rehabilitation is concerned.
The action plan, which is divided into four thematic areas, costs around P26 billion.
Duran said almost all components of the plan were implemented but the question is whether or not they have been completed.
“There should be continuing intervention to sustain the efforts,” he said.
As of April 15, 89 percent of the 339 establishments encroaching on the more than 25-meter beach easement rule were demolished and are expected to be completed by end of this year’s second quarter.
All beaches, including the front and the Bolabog beaches, became Class SB-compliant except for the outfall in front of the Kingfisher area, which is populated by residential houses that are not connected to the sewer network.
Duran said they are also looking for additional sanitary landfills as preparation for the solid waste management of the island.
The rehabilitation of Wetland 2 has been completed and already turned over to the DENR.
Likewise, there is an ongoing rehabilitation of Wetlands 4, 3, 6, 8, while 9 is expected to be completed by the second quarter of this year.
For infrastructure support, Duran said road construction is a continuing intervention. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
