Philippines closes cesspool tourist island of Boracay
PHILIPPINES - The Philippines has announced a six-month closure of the popular tourist destination of Boracay over concerns the island’s famous beaches and clear blue waters have been transformed into a “cesspool” due to sustained environmental damage.
The closure, which will begin April 26, was announced following a cabinet meeting Wednesday, and would be a “total closure” to tourists, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said. No other information was made available, CNN Philippines reported. The decision ends weeks of speculation on the fate of the popular tourist destination, after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte complained about the state of the island in February. Boracay, which is around 170 miles south of the capital Manila, is home to as many as 17,000 people, many of whom are directly engaged in the tourism industry, according to CNN Philippines. “Calamity funds” would be activated to provide financial relief to those affected by the shutdown, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said, but declined to give a figure. The archipelago nation of the Philippines boasts well over 7,000 islands, and among them Boracay had come to be almost a byword for whitesand beach paradise. But with an influx of tourists that began in the 1980s the island has struggled to maintain its idyllic allure.
Last year almost 1.7 million tourists, including a significant number of cruise line passengers, visited the island during a 10-month period, according to the governmental Philippines Information Agency, Among the problems caused by the island’s long-running tourism boom is unregulated development and pipes carrying raw effluence directly into the sea. In a survey of the island’s sewerage facilities, the vast majority 716 of 834 residential and business properties were found to have no discharge permit and were presumed to be draining waste water directly into the sea, according to a report by the official Philippines News Agency. In February Duterte directly called out the alleged mismanagement of the island, accusing those responsible of turning it into a “cesspool.” “As long as there is shit coming out of those pipes draining to the sea, I will never give you the time of the day (to return)” to the island, said Duterte. (CNN)