BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has recommended increasing the environmental fee required to be paid by all tourists – local and foreign – entering this island to defray the cost of wastewater treatment, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said on Friday.
Cimatu said part of the environmental and entrance fee, which is currently pegged at P 75 per person, could be used subsidize the cost of treating wastewater.
Authorities had earlier discovered that 24 establishments were illegally connected to the island’s drainage system.
The high concentration of fecal coliform at Bolabog beach, where three pipes discharge untreated wastewater, was cited as one of the reasons for declaring Boracay under state of calamity.
“Ang mangyayari diyan ang initial na pinag-usapan namin sa BIWC [Boracay Island Water Company] ay they will make a resolution ‘yung municipal council, na madadagdagan ‘yung environmental fee sa pagpasok [sa Boracay] na doon na ma-subsidize ‘yun,” Cimatu told INQUIRER.net in an interview.
[What could happen, as we’ve discussed with BIWC, is that the municipal council of Malay will make a resoultion to increase the environmental and entrance fee to Boracay.]
OVERCROWDED In this February 22 file photo, tourists flock Boracay’s world-famous white beach. Amid the island’s shutdown, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is considering raising the environmental fee charged to island’s visitors to subsidize cost of wastewater treatment. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON
When asked how much would be added to the fee, the environment secretary said he was not yet sure, but he said it could be between P10 to P15.
“They will check pa if magkano ang gastos nila sa pag-treat ng water,” he said.
Cimatu said the environmental fee for Boracay was low.
The Department of the Interior Local Government said it had launched a probe into the environmental fee collection in Boracay for the last 10 years.
Change of strategy
Cimatu said the DENR would change its strategy to improve the water quality on Boracay as the time given to rehabilitate the island was only six months.
“We will try our best kasi nag change kami ng strategy,” he said. “Ang ginawa ko ay ipapa-treat muna ang umamalis dito sa island to the sea ‘yung nag didischarge dapat dadaan sa treatment plant lahat.”
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu holds a press briefing on Friday, April 27, 2018, after visiting several areas around Boracay after the implementation of the six-month closure, including the area where the Galaxy casino is expected to be built on. With him are Undersecretary Ernesto Adobo Jr., Undersecretary Miguel Cuna, among others (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
[We will try our best because we change our strategy. I ordered them to have the water treated first before they discharge it from the island to the sea.]
Business establishments could tap the services of two water treatment facilities on the island, he said, warning that those who violate the Clean Water Act would be face charges.
The environment secretary also proposed improving in the island’s solid waste management.
“Gusto ko sana kung halimbawa ang basura for the whole day ay dadalhin agad sa agad sa sanitary landfill sa mainland so that the following day talagang malinis na naman. Everyday sana deretso na doon wala nang maiiwan dito,” he said.
“I want garbage to go to sanitary landfill in mainland right away so that no garbage will be left on the island overnight.”
The problem, he said, was the shortage of trucks to transport the garbage.
Tourism activities in Boracay generates 90 to 155 tons of garbage every day, according to Proclamation 475 issed by President Rodrigo Duterte, but the government can only haul 30 tons. /atm