BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — About 500 personnel under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) started the first day of the six-month closure and rehabilitation by cleaning up Boracay’s shorelines, as well as the wetlands.
Led by DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu and DENR-6 (Western Visayas) Director Jim Sampulna, the cleaners started working at 8 a.m. by removing the green algae from the long stretch of the island’s beach on Thursday.
The algal blooms floating in the water and which littered the seashores were gathered using a fish net, then were transferred to the shores and finally covered with the island’s white sand.
Several locals said these green algae will dry up when exposed to sunlight and will then turn into powder. Residents said it is one of the reasons why the island’s sand remains powdery white.
In his message to the employees before the start of the cleanup, Cimatu instructed his men to help each other and show the “symbol of unity” for all the Filipino people.
Pointing at the four-kilometer stretch of the island’s white beach, Cimatu ordered them to focus on the removal of the green algae.
However, Cimatu warned that the bloom might be present again next year since the algae is a natural phenomenon.
“But we will look into how we are going to minimize this,” he said.
Other cleaners were deployed to the island’s wetlands to remove solid wastes or non-biodegradable materials.
Cimatu said that there is a need to clean up these wetlands because they serve as the “kidney of the earth”.
He said that some displaced workers were hired to help in the cleanup.
He added that they were being paid through the “cash for work” program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Meanwhile, Emelyn Penaranda, Assistant Division Chief of the Conservation and Development Division of DENR-6, said the presence of the algae few years ago was “tolerable.”
But the presence of organic load of wastewater to the sea somehow contributed to the proliferation of the green algae.
Though their cleanup is only for Thursday, Penaranda said that it will be sustained by the inter-agency task force through its general rehabilitation plan.
The Environmental Management Bureau 6 (EMB), Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 6, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices of the provinces of Antique, Capiz and Iloilo and personnel of the different divisions under the regional office of DENR took part in the one-day cleanup of the island.
Only the skeletal force of each office was left in their respective offices so as not to disrupt their operations.
The cleanup operations went smoothly since the remaining tourists in the island are prohibited to swim.
Only residents are allowed to swim but at the designated area or 150 meters away from both sides of the Willy’s Rock. (PNA)
