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By Elijah Felice Rosales, January 8 2019; Business Mirror
Image Credit to ABS-CBN News
The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) has adopted an action plan that will require P25.27 billion of investment for projects and programs intended to sustain the rehabilitated island resort.
In a news statement issued on Monday, the task force announced it has adopted the medium-term Boracay Action Plan that identified programs for the island’s continued rehabilitation. The BAP seeks to install safeguards to prevent ecological degradation and sustain tourism activities in Boracay.
The projects and programs under the BAP will be rolled out as a follow-up to Boracay’s half a year shutdown, which took place last April to October.
The BAP has four thematic areas: enforcement of laws and regulations; pollution control and prevention; rehabilitation and recovery of the ecosystem; and sustainability of island activities. The task force claimed the action plan is in line with the stakeholders’ vision of a vibrant tourist destination that is sustainable and is geared toward inclusive growth.
The estimated total investment requirement to realize all the projects, programs and activities under the BAP is P25.27 billion, of which 64 percent, or P16.21 billion, is allocated for infrastructure.
According to the task force, the BAP has a combined number of 233 projects and programs. The private sector, for its part, will shoulder nearly 63 percent, or P15.89 billion, of the total cost.
“It primarily provides the strategic interventions to ensure the island’s rehabilitation over the medium term and sustainable management over the long term,” Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Adoracion M. Navarro said.
Created by Executive Order 53, the BIATF is mandated to craft a course of action that will serve as a framework for the rehabilitation of the island resort. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the lead agency of the task force, designated the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to take charge of the BAP Committee.
Further, numerous regional and national level meetings were organized by the Neda to ensure that key interventions from both the government and private organizations are included into the BAP.
The BAP will be submitted for approval of President Duterte upon the recommendation of the Cabinet. Once inked by the President, it will be implemented until 2022.