Clean up your mess, DENR tells Boracay hotels, establishments

CEBU – The reopening of the island resort of Boracay may take longer if hotels and tourism establishments would not fix their faulty sewerage and drainage systems following the discovery of pipes hidden beneath the sands that go out in the sea and polluting the marine environment.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said the level of faecal coliform in the waters of Boracay is still way above the accepted level, adding, the indiscriminate discharge of wastewater into the sea is one of the main reasons for the island's environmental ruin.

“I will never allow Boracay's re-opening if faecal coliform in waters there is above standard," Cimatu said.

The government closed Boracay for six months starting on April 26 to speed up the island's rehabilitation. But Cimatu, who heads the inter-agency task force managing the rehabilitation efforts, wants the drainage system problems fixed before the reopening of Boracay.

Cimatu said latest tests made on the Boracay waters revealed a coliform concentration as high as 74,000 MPN/100ML in other areas as compared to 400MPN/ 100ml. He said Boracay establishments need to speed up fixing their respective faulty sewerage and drainage systems before October.

He said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources also entered intio an agreement with major business groups - Boracay Foundation Inc., Boracay Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, and Filipino Chinese Chamber Federation - for the construction of sewerage treatment plants to help address water pollution in the area.

Cimatu said de-siltation and rehabilitation of drainage lines being undertaken by the Provincial Engineering Office are almost complete, while DENR'S Environmental Management Bureau issued notices of violation to at least 195 establishments with no proper sewer connections.