Single-use plastics banned
The holiday island of Boracay in the Philippines has reopened after a six-month environmental cleanup, and will officially open to tourists on October 26.
But the government insists it will never be open to casinos, foiling the plans of Galaxy Entertainment Group and its Philippine development partner, Leisure and Resorts World Corp. The partners held a provisional license to build a US$300 million (MOP2.42 billion) to US$500 million casino resort with 60 gaming tables on the island, until Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared that the island was closed to gaming halls.
As late as August, the casino plan remained in force, said Katrina Nepomuceno, vice president for legal affairs of LRWC, speaking at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting. “Where am I getting the confidence? Because the president has also said he wants to maintain Boracay as a prime tourist destination aside from the fact that he also talked about agrarian reform. The fact remains there is a property and our partner has a license.”
In 2012, Travel & Leisure magazine called Boracay “the best island in the world.” But in April of this year, Duterte closed the island, calling it a “cesspool” because of out-of-control development and untreated wastewater allegedly dumped into the ocean by hotels and other businesses. Figures showed that the amount of trash per person on Boracay was more than three times higher than in the capital city of Manila.
Duterte said that when the cleanup was complete, Boracay would become an agricultural site, not a casino destination. “I don’t have plans there for casinos,” said the president at the time. “There are enough, there are too many. Casino here, casino there.”
According to the UK Telegraph, the newly reopened island will have an overnight visitor cap of 19,000, and room capacity on the island will be reduced from 12,000 rooms to as few as 6,000. New regulations will be imposed on travelers including a ban on smoking and drinking on the beach and a temporary restriction on all watersports. Single-use plastics will also be banned from the island, and any hotel, resort or restaurant caught breaching the policy three times could lose its license, reported GGRAsia. Visitors have been told to “bring your own straw.” Even the building of giant sand castles will also be regulated.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat told CNN that the “full rehabilitation” will not be complete until next December.
