Business groups want concerted government effort to improve Boracay infrastructure

Business groups are calling for swift action from the national government to complete unfinished infrastructure projects and remove barriers that deter the futher development of this resort island.

Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said in a joint news conference here that the Department of Tourism (DOT) would finish a much-delayed drainage project this year while Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said his deparment will decongest Boracay this year.

“We will decongest Boracay by identifying illegal settlers and remove them in the island. To do this, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR] and the local government of Malay will conduct an inventory of every private structure in this resort island,” Cimatu said.

Both the DOT and the DENR decided to conduct a joint meeting and aerial inspection after receiving complaints over Boracay’s being overdeveloped.

Around 2.1 million tourists visited Boracay in 2017.

Maylynn Graf, president of the Boracay Foundation Inc. said that while she welcomes the initiative of the two secretaries, the business groups here need more interventions from the government.

“No. 1, development that is not done in an aligned manner results in the perception that Boracay is overdeveloped. No. 2, flooding due to the lack of infrastructure to support the development of the island continues to hound residents. The infrastructure was planned 20 years ago but, until now, is not finished and has to be updated and expanded,” Graf said.

“These are just the major concerns. But, if we solve these initially, what a huge difference it will make. We market Boracay all over the world but, as we in the private sector spend billions of pesos in investments, we do our best to provide world-class facilities. People in the government should also invest more. The government should provide Boracay the infrastructure the island badly needs,” she said.

Elena Brugger of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. Boracay said they want to have an implementing body to govern the tourism business in Boracay.

“It is to the nation’s national interest to develop infrastructure and better transportation in the island and in Malay town. We should also have a tourism zone. We must also learn from our mistakes so it could not be replicated any more by other tourism islands in the country,” Brugger said.