BORACAY ISLAND—Owners of resorts and other business establishments here said they are complying with rules related to waste disposal in this global tourist destination.
“We are working to rehabilitate Boracay’s marine environment in support of the Beach Development Program,” Dionisio J. Salme, president of the Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI) and owner of Jony’s Beach Resort said.
According to Salme, business establishments also strictly observe and help enforce antilittering ordinance to prevent pollution.
Boracay, he said, remains undeveloped, and the potential to bring in more revenues from tourism is huge. But there’s a need to protect the island’s environment and natural resources, he added.
According to Salme, most, if not all, BFI’s 150 member-businesses, are already connected to the sewer. Other nonmembers, he said, have also started working to improve the drainage system.
However, he said there’s a need for the government to conduct an inspection to ensure that all business establishments have complied with the order of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
He added that as far as members of BFI are concerned, all resort owners along the beachfronts have complied with the 25-plus-5 rule, which bans construction within 30 meters of the mean high tide of the shores.
Salme claims they support proposals to implement a resort rating and accreditation system in Boracay, which will help business establishments self-regulate and police their ranks.
“There is a resort accreditation before, but I believe it stopped. We support proposals to have a resort rating and accreditation system,” he said.
In February Ramon J.P. Paje issued a statement urging businessmen, like Salme to work together, saying that some establishments that “the evident cause of beach pollution, which can be a big turn off for most of the tourists, is the lack of proper drainage system in the area.
Paje called for completion of the ongoing sewerage and drainage improvements on the island to help reduce the amount of pollutants directly discharged to surface water and groundwater.
The DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau office in Western Visayas had earlier reported that coliform bacteria levels in a drainage outlet that empties into the sea in Sitio Bulabog in Boracay exceed safe standards and reach 47,460 most probable number (mpn) per 100 milimeter (ml). The safe level is 1,000 mpn/100 ml for waters for swimming and other human-contact activities.
Apart from posing serious health and sanitary problems, coliform bacteria could also adversely affect aquatic resources, including marine life and coral reefs, which, aside from the powdery white-sand beaches, form part of the island’s main attractions.
Paje said that he already instructed the local DENR office to closely monitor establishments and apprehend violators of the Clean Water Act.
He also reiterated his appeal to the local government to withhold issuing business permits to establishments that do not have a discharge permit or connection to the sewerage system.
At the same time, Paje urged commercial establishments and residents to practice self-regulation in improving the water quality of the island paradise.