The developer of Coral World Park Undersea Resorts, the planned "underwater" park in The Philippines hasresponded to concern from environmentalistsand thePhilippines environment minister Gina Lopez. It hasconfirmed thatwhilst the attraction will be underwater themed, itwill not actually be underwater.
Earlier this week, Nickelodeon's parent companyViacom International Media Networks had revealed itplanned to build a"Nickleodeon undersea attraction".This was to be part of the largerCoral World Park Undersea Resorts in Palawan. The Nickelodeon areawas to take up 100hectares of the 400 hectareresort, withthe themed attraction taking up 30 hectares.
Coral World Park Undersea Resorts Responds
The plans were quickly criticised by social media users. Their opprobrium centred on the words "underwater" and "undersea".A petition was started by Save Philippine Seas which quickly gathered100, 000 signatures and Twitter users sharedthe hashtag #CoronIsNotBikiniBottom.Philippines environment ministerGina Lopezhad said, "That's our wealth. It's not allowed. You can't kill the corals. For a theme park? No. No way, man."
She added, "The commitment of the government is first and foremost and always, always to the benefit of our people."
Lopez, an environmental activist before her appointment in June, hasa strong background in environmental activismacross The Philippines. Shesaid she hadnot received any applicationfor a permit to build on the site.
The tweet below made her feelings clear.It came from the account of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
SpongeBob on Land
However, it turns outNickelodeon's news was not meant to be taken literally and Coral World Park Undersea Resorts has made it very clear that both the park and theNicklelodeon attraction will be on land.Susan LeeisMarketing & Communications Director of Coral World ParkResorts. Shesaid, "There has never been any form of communication from our side mentioning a theme park. Our plans are to build a resort and attraction, of which we are designing as an undersea attraction with an ocean conservation."
The company added that the resortwillfocus on conservation tourism. The resortwill be the largest coral reef conservation program in Asia.
https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/01/12/Nickelodeon-resort-on-land.html
