ILOILO CITY, Philippines ? Business owners on Boracay scored on Tuesday Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim for painting an unflattering picture of the island and suggesting that tourists visit other less-crowded destinations in an interview with an international wire service.

Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), composed of owners of hotels, restaurants and resorts on the famous island, said it was ?unfair? of Lim to paint a negative picture of Boracay without pointing out that measures were being taken to address long-running developmental and environmental concerns.

?It was unfair of him to issue that statement as tourism secretary. We believe he was just misinformed,? said BFI chairman Henry Chusuey in a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In an Agence France-Presse article last week that appeared in several local dailies, including the Inquirer, Lim was quoted as saying that Boracay had become ?extremely overdeveloped.?

He also said the island had sewerage problems, which he blamed for the algae in the sea water at certain times of the year.

?That?s totally untrue. The algae has been there since before the structures were built and it?s not fair to say without concrete proof that they were caused by sewerage problems,? Chusuey said.

He said that if the algae were caused by sewerage problems, it would be present the whole year instead of only in March and April.

Lim had also said in the article that Boracay was becoming too commercialized like Phuket, the popular Thai beach destination.

Chusuey acknowledged that there were illegal structures on the island and that the issue should be addressed by the local government and government agencies. He said the problem was not over-development but compliance with building regulations on the island.

As for the sewerage problems, ?these concerns have been addressed but the secretary may be unaware of this,? Chusuey said.

He cited the P1.2-billion investment of Manila Water in the water and sewerage service on the island.

Manila Water took over the Boracay Water and Sewerage Service in January with a 25-year concession in a joint venture with the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) and formed the Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC). Manila Water took an 80-percent controlling stake in BIWC while the PTA has 20 percent.

Charlie Uy, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Boracay, said he was able to talk to Lim who told him he was ?quoted out of context? by AFP.

?I talked to him and he told me he will write a letter to business groups and the local government to clarify the report,? said Uy in a separate phone interview Tuesday.

Uy said Lim also denied suggesting that tourists go to destinations other than Boracay because of the congestion on the island.

?He said that what he meant was he envisions the improvement of current destinations and the development of more sites,? Uy said.