BORACAY – The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) targets to complete all rehabilitation projects in this island before President Rodrigo Duterte steps down from office.
Boracay Inter-Agency Management Rehabilitation Group general manager Natividad Bernardino noted significant delays in infrastructure projects due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Kaya hiniling natin na i-extend ang termino ng BIATF,” Bernardino said.
Duterte extended the term of the task force through Executive Order No. 147 until June 2022 to allow the body to complete pending projects on solid waste management, road works and drainage.
The task force was created in 2018 through EO 53 to address the environmental problems. The multi-agency body was supposed to end after two years, but it was extended to May 8, 2021.
Almost 50 percent of Boracay’s road network has been completed. Two phases of the Boracay Circumferential Road project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) (with two lanes, six meters wide, with curb and gutter, sidewalk and drainage ) were already completed.
“Nasa Phase 3 na ang DPWH. Itong mga proyekto, kasama ang Phase 4, ay target na tatapusin sa Hunyo sa susunod na taon,” said Bernardino.
The Boracay water drainage system, a project of Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), is also 57 percent completed. Phase I of the two-phase, four-stage drainage expansion project was completed in 2014, while the Phase II-Package 1A, 3, 4 and 5 is ongoing.
Aklan’s Gov. Florencio Miraflores said rehabilitation is crucial to attract more tourists once Boracay Island opens to international tourists./PN
