Island residents seek go-ahead for tourist ferryboats

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental — Residents of Suyac Island in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, have appealed to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to hasten the accreditation of boats that ferry tourists to their mangrove ecopark.

Noli Burlan, chair of Suyac Eco-Tourism Attendant Association that runs the Suyac Island Mangrove Eco-Park, said the Philippine Coast Guard prohibited at least 11 pump boats from ferrying tourists to their island following the sea mishaps that left 31 dead in the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait in August last year.

Without the Marina’s accreditation, Suyac Island loses about 200 tourists a week.—Carla P. Gomez