Mayor: Boracay P4.98-M project includes offices, not just toilets

An artist’s perspective of the controversial project in Boracay (Photo from Facebook page of Malay town)

ILOILO CITY — Mayor Ceciron Cawaling of Malay town in Aklan has apologized for the “confusion” regarding a P4.98-million project that was announced as a toilet for tourists on Boracay Island.

Cawaling clarified that the building would include not only public toilets but also offices.

“The municipal government would like to apologize for the confusion that a specific project publication has caused,” Cawaling said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Malay local government unit. “We would like to clarify that the project was originally named as ‘Construction of Tourist Information Center’.”

Boracay Island has three villages and is part of Malay town.

Cawaling issued the statement amid widespread criticism of a project costing P4.98 million that was announced in a Commission on Audit billboard as a “comfort room” project.

The project, funded and implemented by the Malay municipal government, was scheduled to start on Dec. 8 and set to be completed on May 27, 2018.

Residents and tourists criticized the project over social media as unnecessary and expensive amid what they perceived were more pressing concerns that should be addressed by both the national and local governments.

These include addressing unfinished and inadequate drainage systems that are being blamed for the worsening flooding on the 1,032-hectare island and congested roads.

In his statement, Cawaling said the first floor of the two story-building will would public washrooms while the second floor will accommodate a command center for lifeguards and a detachment center of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO).

He said the project is a renovation of the an existing multipurpose building.

A floor plan posted along with the statement showed a tourist center and separate toilet facilities for men and women on the ground floor.

The second floor includes spaces for an MDRRMO office, a conference area, and a roofdeck.

Calls for regulation of tourism and development activities on the island have continued amid the continued increase of tourists.

Tourist arrivals in Boracay in 2017 significantly increased to 2,001,974, according to data from the Department of Tourism in Boracay. This is 16 percent higher than the 1,725,483 tourists recorded in 2016.

The number of tourists surpassed the two million target set by tourism officials. /atm