DoT: Full Boracay rehab to take longer
The complete rehabilitation of Boracay Island may take more than a year – or until December 2019 – before it can be fully opened to the public, according to Department of Tourism (DoT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
At the hearing on the proposed P3.39-billion budget of the Department of Tourism for 2019 on Thursday, Puyat stressed that the 26 October event will instead be a “soft opening” of the island.
She said they wanted to limit the number of tourists in the island resort to 19,000 at any given time.
She added that it is only Phase 1 of the rehabilitation, while Phase 2 will be in April 2019 and the final one, Phase 3, will be in December 2019.
“By 26 October, only the major roads will be built. We will have the complete rehabilitation by December 2019,” Puyat said.
The Tourism secretary added the DoT asked the airlines to reduce flights entering Boracay amid the DENR pronouncement on the carrying capacity of Boracay.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu will announce the decided carrying capacity of the island in the coming weeks, she added.
http://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2018/09 ... ke-longer/