SUN SETS ON ISLAND PARADISE FOR CLEAN-UP TO BEGIN

THE Philippines has shuttered its island Boracay to tourists for a six-month clean-up.

Rifle wielding police were yesterday posted at entry points to the once-pristine island that has become tainted by heavy commercialisation and overdevelopment.

Regional police head Cesar Binag said the shutdown began with tourists barred from boarding the ferry that is the main way on to the island.

“Boracay is officially closed to tourists,” he said.

About 600 policemen have been deployed for the task.

“It looks like we are at war,” said grocery seller Jessica Gabay. “Maybe authorities are doing this to instil fear so people will follow the rules.”

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the shutdown this month after calling the resort a “cesspool”, dirtied by tourism-related businesses dump- ing raw sewage directly into the ocean.

During the closure only residents with ID cards are allowed to board ferries to the tiny island that is home to about 40,000 people.

Pictures: AFP A paddleboarder at the Philippines’ Boracay island ahead of the tourist destination’s closure this week for a six-month clean-up and (inset) Gina Galan, 45, collects discarded plastic bottles at the resort dumpsite, which President Rodrigo Duterte has...