Boracay’s infrastructure, already sub-standard for handling the increasing amount of visitors and development, has received another blow with the damage of the underwater cables and pipes for the electricity, fresh water and communications — vital installations necessary for the island to operate efficiently. Several barges have severely damaged these most important supply lines, all in the area of Manoc Manoc Beach. Manoc Manoc Beach with its dilapidated pier is the point where almost all of the cargoes for the island come in: tons of supplies and construction materials every single day.
Report by BCCI Newsletter Team.
Everything for Boracay’s booming tourism and everything for Boracay’s booming development have to be imported like tons of supplies and tons of construction materials. Almost all of these cargoes are landed on Manoc Manoc Beach with the exception of some huge developments in Yapac. This immense influx of cargoes is not organized at all and this results in a highly chaotic situation at the Manoc Manoc Beach. The pier which was constructed there more than 15 years ago is completely destroyed with some ruins of it still visible today. This chaotic situation has put a lot of stress on Manoc Manoc Beach and today, large portions of the beach are destroyed or abused. The western part of Manoc Manoc Beach is also used by private bancas to deliver or pick up passengers, making a farce of the One Entry, One Exit policy which is supposed to enhance safety and security. The local and provincial government have also never organized and improved the situation for the huge amount of incoming cargoes, without which development and tourism of the island would collapse. Last but not least, Manoc Manoc Beach is also the point where vital infrastructure lines for Boracay are coming in from the mainland through the channel, exactly where the barges are allowed to dock in the absence of any regulations. This situation has turned daily operations of establishments and life of many residents into a nightmare.
Akelco submarine cables hit 3 times
AKELCO’s two 3-phase underwater cables were hit consecutively three times this year by docking barges: February 2, February 26 and April 22. The last incident on April 22 was the worst for Boracay’s electricity consumers and resulted in sub-standard electricity supply and short but frequent brownouts, often more than 20 per day. This situation extorted huge additional costs for Boracay’s electricity consumers in terms of higher bills for unreliable power and broken down electronic units. On May 3, more than 3 months after the first incident, AKELCO’s management finally agreed to meet the consumers on Boracay personally. AKELCO’s management disclosed at that meeting, that the situation will be temporarily improved by repairing the old (more than 15 years) cable for 4.2 Million Pesos. Only one phase of this old cable is working now, while for the other two phases the new cable is used (One phase of the new cable has been destroyed). After the old cable is repaired by end of May, all of Boracay’s power needs will be routed through that cable and the new cable could be repaired at a cost of over 20 Million Pesos. The question as to who will pay for the repairs remains still open and undecided.
Increasing Electricity Demand
There is, however, a problem: The old cable can only support 8 MW (the new one 10 MW), but Boracay’s electricity demand is now at 7.5 MW daily. On April 30, at the height of the event frenzy along the White Beach, the island’s electricity demand even peaked at 8 MW. This electricity demand has increased since last year by 2.8 % and is expected to increase another 12% to 8.5 MW by 2008. That means the old submarine cable will be used at 100% capacity, not a healthy situation as such cables should be used at a maximum capacity of 80% only, according to Akelco.
No Water for many parts of Boracay
On February 28, the BWSS underwater pipeline for fresh water was hit by another ship, the MV Doňa Trinidad IV, the fourth such incident. Despite dozens of phone calls to PTA, the BCCI newsletter team didn’t receive any press release with information what is being done and when normal water pressure will be restored on Boracay Island. In the meantime many resorts and residents suffer under lack of water, particularly in Yapak, parts of Bulabug and Manoc Manoc, where residents have no water for days in a row. In a cell phone call to a BCCI board member, PTA GM Dan Barbers conveyed his apologies to BWSS consumers, saying that PTA is working on a solution.
