PTA urged to put up Boracay power facility

Boracay resort and establishment owners and Tourism Task Force have urged the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) to put up an independent power generation facility on the island to prevent another power crisis in the country’s top tourist destination.

In separate letters to PTA general manager Nixon Kua, the Boracay Tourism Task Force and the Boracay Foundation Inc. welcomed PTA’s proposal for the establishment of an independent power generation facility on Boracay but asked that the PTA itself be the one to put it up.

Kua made the proposal last week after the National Power Corp. cut off power in the entire province of Aklan due to the failure of the local electric cooperative to pay its debt to Napocor.

Arturo Alejandrino, executive director of the Boracay Tourism Task Force, also thanked Kua for issuing a warning on another power crisis in Boracay and Aklan if the power problem is not addressed with the establishment of an independent power source for Boracay.

"We are thankful that you have sounded the alarm. It will be a bad situation for our national tourism program if the many years of planning, infrastructure development and hard work will simply be put to waste," Alejandrino said in his letter dated March 26.

"In this regard, may I strongly suggest for your immediate intervention to properly address this situation. Your office, having the mandate and capability to set up an independent power supply for Boracay Island, will stave off a possible disaster for Aklan’s tourism industry," he added.

Karen Reina, chairwoman of Boracay Foundation, made the same appeal in her letter to Kua dated March 25. Boracay Foundation is an organization of all commercial establishments and other stakeholders in the island.

"May we request for PTA’s establishment of a power generation facility that can immediately address the critical problem of electric supply shortage of Boracay Island. We believe, as manifested in the undertaking of the Boracay Environment Infrastructure Project, your office has more financial latitude to undertake the implementation of such large-ticket projects."

The two groups cited the PTA’s effective operation of the water supply system and environmental infrastructure projects in Boracay as their reason for their call for PTA to put up the power facility.

Boracay Foundation also agreed with Kua’s observation, saying "the power supply for the immediate near future may no longer be sufficient to support our rapidly expanding requirements in Boracay Island."

Reina added that the Aklan provincial government is incapable of financing such a project because of limited funds.

"While we realize that the province is doing its best to provide the much-needed infrastructure in support of the investors in Aklan’s tourism industry, it is also saddled with limited funding resources," she added.

Napocor had cut off power in Aklan, including Boracay Island, on March 18 after the Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) failed to pay its dues totaling P105 million.

Akelco also owes the National Electrification Administration (NEA) P47.5 million as of end-December 2001, and the PTA P17 million for the setting up of a submarine cable transmitting power from Caticlan to Boracay.

Kua said the electric power demand in Panay will gradually increase from 178 megawatts in 2003 to 190 MW in 2004, 203 MW in 2005 and 218 MW in 2006.