Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu is asking for patience in relation to the snail-paced rehabilitation of Boracay, four months after it was reopened in October last year.
“We know the roads are still dusty. We ask for patience, [the Boracay rehabilitation] is still a work in progress,” Cimatu said in a statement.
The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) recently held its second meeting for 2019 in Taguig City.
“The task force members still meet regularly to monitor the implementation of our plans in restoring the island and review policies or regulations,” he added.
As secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Cimatu chairs the BIATF.
Secretaries Eduardo Año of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Bernadette Romulo Puyat of the Department of Tourism (DOT) serve as cochairs.
Aside from regular meetings, officials of the 11 BIATF member-agencies have been regularly visiting the island to personally check on the rehabilitation’s progress, according to the DENR.
Part of the ongoing progress on the island, which Cimatu reported on, was the expected completion by June of a government hospital that would address the medical needs of tourists and workers alike.
He added that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would soon eliminate “unsightly overhead “spaghetti” cables and place them underground.
The DPWH has been working closely and extensively with electric companies in relocating electric poles affected by the road widening.
Accomplishments, plans
DPWH Assistant Regional Director Jose Al V. Fruto said that in the first phase of the rehabilitation, the agency had completed the 4-kilometer stretch of the main road from Cagban Jetty Port to the Elizalde property, as well as the 600-meter road along Bulabog beach.
Fruto added that the agency aims to make 5 kilometers of sidewalks walkable by mid-March and a total of 15 to 20 kilometers of roads completed by the end of the two-year rehabilitation period.
Meanwhile, Puyat reported that as of February 18, the DOT had accredited more than 300 establishments, equivalent to more than 11,600 rooms.
Permission has also been granted for the conduct of three events on the island, including a fashion week from April 29 to May 1.
On the other hand, the DOT has barred cruise ships from visiting the island on the following dates: April 16 to April 23, which includes Holy Week; for the rest of the summer from April 24 to May 31; for observance of All Saints and All Souls Days, from October 26 to November 8; and, for the conduct of the Southeast Asian Games from November 23 to December 19.
For demolition
Cimatu also confirmed that both the DENR and the DILG have identified for demolition 10 establishments that have been noncompliant to regulations on easement along the beach and road.
Those named were: Boracay Plaza Resort, Willy’s Rock Resort, Little Prairie Inn, Watercolors Dive Shop, Blue Lily Hotel, True Home, Exclusive Dawn VIP Boracay Resort, New Wave Divers, Steve’s Cliff and Calveston International.
The environment chief said that some of the resorts continued to operate despite violations. They would be given 15 days to self-demolish or have their properties demolished by the government.
Año said that this was a “time of reckoning” for some of the violators who had failed to finish demolishing their properties, and for others who had adopted a “wait and see” stance towards the demolition.
The DILG chief also stated that law-enforcement agencies have already formed a task group to “implement to the letter all ordinances and regulations in the discipline
zone.”