Stricter law on golf courses urged

Stricter law on golf courses urged

MANILA (Reuter): A Philippine senator said yesterday he would ask Congress to pass a new law calling for stricter regulation of golf courses to lessen damage on the environment.

Ernesto Herrera, vice-chairman of the Senate committee on environment, said the proposed legislation would require all golf course developers to secure an environmental clearance certificate from the government.

Present regulations only require such certificates in high- risk areas, such as heavily wooded places, where developers would have to chop down many trees, Herrera's spokeswoman Lynette Deloria said by telephone.

Besides consuming huge volumes of water daily and worsening soil erosion, the country's more than 100 golf courses also threaten the ecology because they use weed killers and other chemicals that pollute water resources, Herrera said in a statement.

He warned the proliferation of golf courses could aggravate water shortages now felt in Manila and trigger similar shortages in provinces where golf courses are being developed to attract tourists.