WATCH: Inter-agency task force 'on track' on Boracay rehab
BORACAY, Philippines— A Department of Tourism official last week said the inter-agency task force assigned to lead the rehabilitation of Boracay island is on track on its two-year commitment.
“The commitment of our interagency task force is to finish certain milestones within the two-year period,” Tourism Undersecretary Arturo Boncato Jr. said.
“Based on the report of partners –of the [Department of Public Works and Highways] we are on track,” he also said.
The interagency-task force, led by chair Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, vice-chair Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, was formed by President Rodrigo Duterte in May 2018.
However, since the island was closed in April 2018, the task force’s validity is also until April 2020.
Boncato said the DPWH is working on completing Phase Two of the road network, which runs from Seawind Resort all the way to Barangay Yapak.
He added that the infrastructure arm of the DOT, which is the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, is the agency investing in the drainage system. He said this is being worked on by the DPWH in parallel with the road network.
The tourism official said that the road experience in Boracay is now appreciated by tourists and residents.
“When we were starting the roads, people were complaining about the open beaches, the water, the flooding,” Boncato said.
“If you see the result [now], it almost erases everything. It’s exactly the vision of the task force to offer the best kind of experience to the tourists and locals as well,” he added.
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