Island to shut down April 26
Macau gaming operator Galaxy Entertainment Group says its planned $500 million casino resort on the Philippine island of Boracay will bring in US$100 million annually in revenue once it’s up and running. But critics of the project object to the fact that it was approved by lawmakers without public hearings. They also question a planned six-month shutdown of the island, supposedly for an environmental cleanup.
Construction of the resort, which will occupy a 23-hectare (56.8-acre) beachfront parcel, is set to start next year and take three years, reports ABS-CBN News. A wholly-owned unit of Galaxy has been granted a provisional gaming license by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the country’s casino regulator. Galaxy’s local partner is Leisure and Resorts World Corp.
Francis Lui, Galaxy Entertainment’s deputy chairman, told ABS-CBN the resort will create hundreds of new jobs. “What excited us, one of the reasons, has to be the new airport which has been built last year, giving direct access to international market to bring in some high-end customers,” said Lui.
Others are not impressed, reports MetroManila.com. Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said the environmental problems are being used as a “smokescreen” to let the developers come in unimpeded.
“As concerns are being raised now on the environmental situation in Boracay, the planned resort-casino is not only ill-timed but even dubious in the midst of the Duterte administration’s resolve to close Boracay yet allowing the construction of the proposed casino,” he said in a statement. Zarate claims that LWRC is controlled by allies of President Rodrigo Duterte.
But the Philippine government contends the resort island has become a “cesspool” due to sustained environmental damage, reported CNN.
The planned shutdown will be hard on local business owners, Tourism Undersecretary Ricky Alegre told CNN. “We describe Boracay as a world class island destination with poor services,” Alegre said. “And we wish to upgrade the services. We must swallow the bitter pill and see this solution as one step backward and two steps forward. We want to continue to promote the Philippines as a beautiful destination—and want to add that our destinations are environmentally compliant.”
An unnamed member of a group called Boracay United, which opposes the closure, said the government’s plan will “severely devastate the lives of over 19,000 workers that will lose everything, crippling not only Boracay’s micro, small and medium enterprises but the entire country’s tourism and reputation across the globe for a very long time.”
