(Eagle News) — The schedule of the Boracay rehabilitation and clean up might be extended beyond six months.
This came after Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu revealed that more than 40 illegal pipelines were discovered in a beachfront where tourists usually go swimming.
The illegal pipelines were discovered after the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) conducted surveys using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
The agency also discovered that waters at the beachfront had high levels of coliform bacteria.
Certain areas in the resort island even had coliform levels of up to 72,000 most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters (ml) which is way past the safe level of 400 MPN per 100 ml.
Cimatu said that he would “not recommend the reopening” of Boracay island if the coliform levels remain at high levels even after the six-month rehabilitation period.
The DENR chief was among those who conducted an inspection of the illegal sewage pipelines in the island.
The inspection even found a pipe within 30 meters of the shoreline, which was found to be excreting up to 10,000 MPN per ml of coliform.