Boracay Island

Boracay waste problems pile up with Holy Week tourism surge

Jun Aguirre

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Boracay waste problems pile up with Holy Week tourism surge

HAULING. A garbage truck hauls garbage from the Sanitary Landfill in Barangay Manocmanoc Boracay on March 27, 2023.

Jun Aguirre

Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista traces the problem to a broken barge but says repairs have been completed and services should normalize soon

BORACAY, Philippines – The Sangguniang Bayan of Malay, Aklan has started investigating the contract of the ECOS Sanitary Landfill and Waste Management Corporation, after numerous complaints over the delayed hauling of trash from the resort island.

Malay Councilor Christine Hope Pagsuguiron said the outcry was loudest in Barangay Manocmanoc.

The uncollected garbage gas caused the periodic suspension of classes at the Manocmanoc Elementary School and the Manocmanoc National  Highschool to protect children from foul odors, said barangay captain Nixon Sualog.

Officials expected the problem to worsen with the daily influx of 4,000 tourists during the Holy Week.

Petition

A petition by the Manocmanoc National High School warned that inadequate garbage disposal contributes to environmental and health dangers, a reason for the passage in 2001 of Republic Act 9003.

The petition reminded the Malay environment and natural resources office that Section 37 of the law orders local governments to convert open dumps into controlled dumps within three years of the law’s effectivity.

The same provision also mandates an end to controlled dumps within five years.

Probe

In a Facebook post on April 1, Pagsuguiron said she is leading the review and evaluation of the Public and Private Partnership (PPP) contract forged between the ECOS and the local government of Malay in 2018.

Manocmanoc hosts the Bung-aw centralized Material Recovery Facility (MRF), the staging area for ECOS’ hauling activities.

Barge woes

Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista on April 1 said he welcomes the initiative of the Malay SB.

“The problem started when the barge which hauls the garbage broke down sometime last month,” he told Rappler.

“As a result, the garbage was hauled using smaller boats from Boracay to Kabulihan landfill in mainland, Malay Aklan. The barge, however, has now been repaired and we hope that the ECOS could be able to haul more garbage soonest,” Bautista added.

Earlier, Police Captain Redym Daligdig, station chief of the Aviation Security Group in Caticlan Airport in Barangay Caticlan, Malay Aklan, said they expect 4,000 plus tourists coming daily to Boracay on Holy Week. – Rappler.com

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