The popular tourist island of Boracay in the Philippines is cleaned up and ready for visitors again, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said on Monday as it was opened after a six-month clean-up.
“I guarantee that the water is now very clean. The island is now a sight to behold. Boracay will even be grander in the near future,”Cimatu said.
Boracay, famous for its powder-sand beaches and coves - and featured in “The Beach” movie from 2000 starring Leonardo diCaprio -welcomed only local tourists during the soft opening on Monday. On October 26, it will be open to foreign tourists as well.
President Rodrigo Duterte closed the island in April after complaining that it had become a “cesspool.”
Boracay was visited by more than 2 million foreign and local tourists in 2017, the tourism department said.
Many residents, put out of work due to the temporary closure, joined the clean-up effort.
The full rehabilitation of ports, roads, sewage, drainage and other facilities will continue until December next year, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said. — dpa
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
