January 28, 2008
By : Danny Fajardo
______________
KALIBO, Aklan — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will take over Boracay Island, which will undergo massive environmental rehabilitation to address deteriorating conditions.
In a dialogue with the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), DENR Regional Executive Director Lormelyn Claudio said there had been many environment-related violations in the island.
She said the only remedy is for the department to take over and rehabilitate the world-famous resort island.
"We still respect the authorities of the Department of Tourism, the Philippine Tourism Authority and the local government unit. We also hope they will respect us in terms of environmental policies," Claudio said.
DENR conducted an investigation of Boracay’s environment after the reported flooding of key areas in the resort island last December.
Tourists also complained of stinking odors in several areas of the island.
During the dialogue, Claudio presented the DENR’s proposed Boracay Master Plan to the SP that incorporates the technical, organizational, and institutional aspects of environmental protection and rational developments for this resort island.
"With the completion of the Boracay Master Plan, we will now proceed (with) the creation of a Comprehensive Land Use and Development Plan which will be adopted by the Regional Development Council and the National Economic Development Authority," Claudio said.
Although she did not disclose the time frame for DENR’s takeover, she said that this may take some time because the resort island is a popular tourist destination and thus cannot be just shut down.
"We are also bent on creating the multi-partite monitoring team whose funding will be shouldered by the stakeholders of Boracay," Claudio said. She called this the environmental monitoring fund.
Based on DENR’s investigation, only 38 percent of Boracay’s forest cover is left while the caves, wetlands and forest areas have been encroached by some private stakeholders.
DENR will not issue any Environmental Compliance Certificates to new investors until a six-month moratorium is lifted.
Meanwhile, the National Economic and Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) has approved the P2.5-billion Caticlan Airport Development Project in Aklan province.
The project includes the construction of new airport passenger terminal, extension of the existing runway from 950 meters to 2,100 meters, improvement of the road network, and upgrading of airport facilities and air traffic control aids.
NEDA said the private proponent Caticlan International Airport Development Corp. (CIADC) plans to build other support utilities, put up firefighting equipment, and construct a diversion road.
The project is based on a build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer (BROT) scheme at no cost to the government.
_____________________________
