Court blocks land reclamation on Boracay

MANILA, Philippines—A Philippine project to reclaim more land on the white-sand island resort of Boracay, one of the country’s top tourist draws, has been stopped by the Supreme Court, court officials said Tuesday.

Court spokesmen said the country’s highest court imposed the temporary writ as it agreed to hear a petition to permanently stop the P1-billion ($23.17-million) project on environmental grounds.

“The temporary environmental protection order stops any activity regarding the shoreline reclamation project,” a staff member for court spokesman Midas Marquez told AFP.

“As of now, there will be no action till the order is lifted,” said the employee, who asked not to be named.

Marquez could not be reached for comment.

A group of local businessmen on the 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) central island had asked the Supreme Court to stop the project to add a total of 40 hectares on both Boracay and the nearby coast of Malay through reclamation.

They alleged the proposed reclamation would harm the environment.

The Supreme Court gave the government’s Philippine Reclamation Authority and the provincial government 10 days to reply to the petition, the Marquez aide said.

Neither the spokesmen for state reclamation firm nor local officials could be reached for comment late Tuesday.

Boracay’s powdery, white-sand beaches draw more than 600,000 tourists a year according to tourism department data, making it one of the most-visited tourist sites in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

Some residents are wary of more tourist developments in the area in light of environmental problems in the past, including its lack of proper rubbish disposal facilities and, in 1997, sewage contamination of the coastal waters.