Barbers urges Boracay resort owners to use water & sewer treatment plants

Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) general manager and chief executive officer Robert Dean Barbers strongly asked all hotel and resort owners in Boracay to use PTA’s fully operational water and sewerage treatment plants in order to protect the environmental concerns of this island paradise.

"I urge all concerned establishments in Boracay to avail of PTA’s water and sewerage treatment plants in order to save from harm repercussions of environmental degradation of this beautiful island before it’s too late," Barbers warned.

PTA has completed the Boracay Environmental Infrastructure Project (BEIP) with the objective to improve and expand the water supply and sewerage facilities of the island as part of the government’s thrust to boost tourism in the country which is considered a vital component in searching for revenue generating measures to address the fiscal deficit of the country.

"I hope that the owners of the commercial establishments in Boracay would help the government in this endeavor. The public and the private sectors, in this particular case, must have a symbiotic relationship with the end view of protecting the ecosystem of Boracay," Barbers explained.

The specific objective of the water and sewerage treatment plants is to provide the necessary facilities that would support and sustain a master development plan to enhance the tourism viability of Boracay to world class standards and at the same time maintain the island’s natural environment and cultural assets, Barbers said.

However, Barbers expressed alarm that less than half of all the commercial establishments in Boracay have availed of their centralized water and treatment plants. "The irony of it all is that the government is totally supportive to protect the very "bread and butter" of the resort and hotel owners of Boracay by providing them quality water and sewerage plants to safeguard the very existence of their business, but most of them ignore this privilege," Barbers added.

Barbers said that based on the report conducted by BEIP task force, only 40% of the total capacity have availed of the waste water treatment while only 25.30% are connected to the PTA’s potable water supply.

"The problem with the majority of the business establishments in Boracay is that their septic tanks are dangerously close to one another. What is more alarming is that their underground water extraction facilities or deep wells, which are used as their source for potable water, are likewise located within the proximity of their septic tanks. That practice led to a disastrous tourist nightmare for Boracay," Barbers said.

Boracay experienced a debacle in tourist arrivals back in 1997 when it was reported that their source of drinking water was contaminated with coliform bacteria that exceeded allowable limits. An investigation was immediately conducted to look for the source of the contamination and concluded that the inadequate septic and sewerage planning of the island were to blame.

The PTA has now undergone a regular every other day check-up on their potable water supply conducted by their laboratory to assure their subscribers of unabated safe drinking water.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) earlier threatened to cancel environmental compliance certificates (ECC), block land titling bids and close establishments in Boracay unless hotel and resort owners comply with the agency’s directive to put up septic tanks and connect it to PTA’s centralized sewerage treatment plant.

One resort owner who has availed and subscribed to PTA’s water and sewerage treatment plant, said that some of the business establishments do not want to pay for the additional cost in order to be connected to the PTA centralized drinking and water waste disposal facilities. He added that some resort owners would attempt to circumvent the existing regulation of the PTA by only subscribing to the wastewater treatment component offered by the government but will purchase potable water from an unauthorized and unlicensed private water supplier.

"PTA’s condition for all business establishments here in Boracay is that they must avail of both facilities in order to be a regular subscriber of the water supply and sewerage plants with the objective to address the environmental problem of the island comprehensively. However some business establishment would only apply for the sewerage treatment facility as token gesture to show that they are cooperating with the government with the knowledge that the application would be disapproved from the start having not fully complied with the conditions of the PTA," said the resort owner who requested anonymity.

"Let’s face it, it seems that some owners of business establishments in Boracay would do everything to cut cost in order to earn more. However, we must be aware of the perilous reprisals that might bring to the ecosystem of this island paradise if we would not pay attention to the necessary facilities for the distribution of potable water and treatment of waste water are concerned," cautioned Barbers.