Flooding threatens Boracay tourism
Tourism officials and resort owners in Boracay have warned of the collapse of the island's tourism industry if flooding on the island is not controlled.
Tourism regional director Edwin Trompeta said the flooding which affected major portions of the 1,000-hectare island during the end of last year could destroy the island's P10-billion tourism industry.
"If not addressed, it will destroy the island in the next two years," Trompeta said in a telephone interview.
Trompeta said they have been swamped by calls and complaints from tourists and resort owners regarding the flooding, the worst experienced by long-time residents of the island.
The flooding triggered by heavy rains caused canals and sewerage pipes to overflow spilling murky and overflowing to the white beach, the island's primary asset and attraction.
Trompeta said the worst affected was areas along Boat Station 2, at the middle of the island. It also severely affected the Boracay Municipal Hospital and the D' Mall commercial complex.
At least 30 percent of the beach area and most of Bulabog area were flooded, said Trompeta.
A business owner who asked not to be identified said thousands of tourists "saw and smelled" the pools of water.
"The middle part of the island, the White Beach and Bulabog Beach smelled like an open sewer!" the business owner said in an e-mail.
The Boracay Chamber of Commerce Inc. (BCCI), a group of resort and business owners on the island, already raised concerns of the flooding since October last year.
In a letter to Malay Mayor Ciceron Cawaling, BCCI Vice President Gigi Piit said the problem has already reached the attention of online travel forums.
"In addition to the old natural outflow, the 'creek', we have now at least half a dozen additional outflows, some of them for a couple of years already, which not only change the landscape of the White Beach, but also pose an environmental danger to our only asset, the famous White Beach," said Piit in her letter
Piit said residents and small business operators affected by stagnant water have been digging trenches and laying pipes to drain the flood waters in the beachfront, which have further threatened the already fragile state of the island's water and beach.
The Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), tasked to develop, supervise and operate tourism projects and areas, has blamed the local government unit for failing to provide a site for a project of installing pumping stations to flush rain water to the sea.
PTA General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Robert Dean Barbers said their P110-million drainage project has been stalled by the failure of the Malay LGU to provide the site for three pumping stations.
He said the PTA has filed expropriation cases for areas needed for the drainage project. The project cannot proceed until the Kalibo Regional Trial Court decides on the cases, Barbers said in a telephone interview.
Barbers said the sewerage pipes were overloaded during heavy rains because of illegal connections by many resorts.
He said they will file cases against resort owners and residents that have illegal connections to the sewage system and those who refuse to be connected to the system.
The PTA operates the Boracay Water and Sewage System (BWSS).
Trompeta said the flooding is proof of unregulated development that has destroyed the ecological balance of the island.
"When you abuse the environment it will get back at you," said Trompeta.
He pointed out that there was a natural lagoon on the island years ago where rainwater accumulated and flowed to the sea.
But buildings were constructed over the lagoon and natural waterways were also covered to accommodate the construction boom.
Trompeta earlier called for the appointment of an administrator for Boracay Island as part of efforts to save the island-resort from unregulated development.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in August last year called for a six-month moratorium on the construction of new buildings on the island until the PTA comes up with a new development master plan for the island which would ensure the protection and sustainable utilization of its resources. The DENR is also planning to come up with an environmental protection master plan for the island within the period.
Boracay's tourist arrivals from January to November last year reached 547,305 and generated P10.062 billion in earnings, a jump from the P8 billion earnings in 2006.