Volunteers combed near-empty beaches and workers boarded up shops on the island of Boracay on Thursday, as the Philippines’ top tourist spot closed for a six-month makeover aimed at rescuing it from ruin.
For the first time in years, Boracay’s most famous beach was almost deserted. Gone were the lines of umbrellas and sun loungers, as well as hordes of tourists and vendors, that characterized the explosive, unchecked growth of what was once a quiet paradise island.
Boracay was officially closed to non-residents as of midnight on Wednesday to undergo rehabilitation ordered three weeks ago by President Rodrigo Duterte, angered by a video he had seen of black sewage pouring into the sea at a Boracay beach, Reuters reported.
The closure is likely to affect the livelihoods of an estimated 30,000 people reliant on Boracay’s 2 million annual visitors, but many residents feel Duterte’s intervention was necessary.
A few remaining tourists posed for rare, crowd-free selfies in front of blue waters that have been for years cluttered with an armada of neon-sailed boats.
On Thursday, the boats had gone, replaced by a coastguard ship lingering on the horizon and small navy boats policing a 3-kilometre no-go zone.
A sewage system on the brink of collapse put Boracay on the government’s radar two months ago. Further inspection revealed a catalogue of environmental breaches across an island just 10-square-kilometres (4-square-miles) in size.
The interior ministry this week said it would seek charges against 10 unidentified officials for negligence, according to Reuters.
Volunteers cleared seaweed and trash along the coast, while diggers, trucks and heavy-duty machinery were moved in across the island, slowing the departure of the last trickle of tourists.
Workers dug up pipes and smashed down walls as part of efforts to widen a slender spine road and demolish illegal buildings that capitalized on decades of lax regulation.
