Guv resumes environmental fee collection
Boracay Island -- After more than one month, Governor Carlito Marquez decided to ask the representatives of the local government unit of Malay to return to their post inside the Caticlan Jetty Port to resume the collection of P50 environmental fee.
Marquez suspended the environmental fee collection since September 1, 2007 after receiving complaints from stakeholders questioning the legality of the collection of the environmental fee following failure of the local government of Malay to remit percentage of the share of the provincial government.
The governor said, the temporary cancellation of the environment fee should give way to the creation of the memorandum of agreement between the local government and the provincial government for the implementation of the remittance of the latter's share.
However, despite the order of Marquez, representatives of the local government of Malay decided to continue the collection outside the Caticlan Jetty Port bringing in confusion and discomfort to the visiting tourists.
So far, the MOA failed to be approved by the technical committee created resulting to the provincial government to currently study a unified ticketing system in Boracay.
The representatives of local government of Malay will start its collection inside the Caticlan Jetty Port on October 16.
"We would like things to set in order and through the unified ticketing system, we hope to provide convenience to tourists entering Boracay through Caticlan Jetty Port," Marquez said. (www.aklanon.org)