This is bad news for one of the world's greatest top beach destination. Boracay Philippines, well known for its white smooth sands and beaches, is facing environment destruction problems because of non-stop contructions and hungry pockets of government officials.
In a report titled Philippines to sue to stop building activity in top tourist destination, it said there that even though local government in that area promised to stop the constructions, they failed to do so. They broke their own building ban law. What does that mean?
When there is a building ban, it is clearly stated there that you cannot build. There is one solution though. Bribe Money. As most people know, money talks. Money will lift that building ban and this is where those local government officials gets itchy hands.
If there is a building ban and you are strict about it, you will stop ANY ongoing or starting construction projects. The problem is, people there only think of their own pockets. If you analyze it slowly, lets assume that they are getting bribe money because in no other way, can they lift the building ban on some of the "prospected" business owners.
Here is the chain:
Business owners pay to construct > Local Gov't receives payment > Business owners receive license to construct > Start construction > Boracay polluted / destroyed > Boracay has a new facility / hotel / whatever > repeat step one for X times > Boracay destroyed, polluted > No more tourist / visitors > People there will be desperate > Crime rate rises > No more tourist because of pollution, crime and destroyed popular beach > Boracay will be removed from the map of the world*
*It won't be a popular place and it will be known as a "just another polluted ugly beach".
Now, are you going to hate local government officials allowing businesses to build on Boracay and in the near future, Boracay will fall? People there will starve? Just because once upon a time, officials there becamse greedy and you think having new establishments will give you more businesses? Think.
It will be one less tourist destination in the Philippines.
3 comments:
its already destructed, we went there last year(2007) I was awed at the sight of it, but as the days goes by, while we are touring the island, its just another sad story, the beaches are littered with trash, broken glasses from beer bottles and such, I even took pictures of it thinking I will send it to some environmentalist there, there are no living sea creatures in site except for a red worm that I saw in one of the sandbars my kids are playing,sewer system is bad, as we passed behind hotels to catch the tricycles, we talk to some locals they said they we're displaced from places to places in the island,its the same scene like Manila, the front are the rich ones, behind are the poor ones. I don't know if there is hope we can rant about it over and over but at the end it will still be the same.
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I was in Boracay in September 2007. I didn't see the whole island but I did notice a lot of run down local dwellings. I guess that is part of the "charm" of the island. Well folks.. these people have to eat. They can make money selling you trinkets on the beach or working at a nice hotel. As far as I'm concerned Boracay isn't the nicest beach in Asia, but everybody says it is so don't blame them for promoting it as such. I would rather go to Panglao or Palawan or Camiguin. Boracay is over hyped and could be run a lot better as far as infrastructure with all the tourism, but remember this is the Philippines.
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