[1] Travel guides and websites are filled with advice for
[2] tourists on how not to get ripped off when visiting the
[3] world’s great attractions. But maybe it’s the attractions
[4] that need tips on not getting pilfered by tourists. From
[5] pieces of the Great Wall to live penguins, travelers
[6] looking for unique souvenirs will stuff almost anything
[7] they can into their luggage. The latest uproar over theft of
[8] a public attraction comes from Boracay Island in the
[9] Philippines, where the magnificent white beach sands are
[10] suffering “blatant extraction” at the hands of the kinds of
[11] tourists that give the rest of us a bad name. Responding
[12] to the threat to its most valuable natural resource, local
[13] officials passed an ordinance last week that greatly
[14] toughens the existing law for being caught carting off
[15] sand or pebbles from the Philippines’ top tourist
[16] destination. As reported by the Manila Bulletin, the
[17] ordinance states that: “Boracay Island, a masterpiece of
[18] nature endowed by the Almighty with powdery white
[19] sand, is being gradually dissipated by man’s selfish
[20] interests without due regard to the consequences”. The
[21] new penalty for first-time sand thieves in Boracay will be
[22] 2,500 pesos (US$60) or a prison sentence of not less
[23] than one month and not more than six months.
[24] Subsequent offenses will bring stiffer minimum penalties.
[25] The new punishments may or may not work, but one
[26] thing is certain: greedy tourists will continue to commit
[27] selfish acts around the globe. In June, The Telegraph
[28] reported that visitors in Italy have been pinching
[29] cobblestones, marble mile markers and mosaic pieces
[30] from ancient Roman sites. Italian officials have reported
[31] an increase this year in cases of theft of Roman relics,
[32] with pieces of 2,000-year-old stone and other artifacts
[33] often discovered in travelers’ luggage at major airports. In
[34] April, the Daily Mail reported that three British citizens
[35] had been accused of stealing a penguin from an
[36] Australian marine park, though, surprise, a night of
[37] partying may have been involved in that absurd heist.
[38] Exhausted but unharmed, the seven-year-old fairy
[39] penguin, named Dirk, was discovered and returned to his
[40] park home and mate, Peaches. Officials and
[41] archaeologists in China have long been concerned about
[42] major destruction and diminution of large sections of the
[43] Great Wall due to casual looting .Regrettably little, it
[44] seems, is off limits to the dedicated souvenir hunter.
http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/world-tourists-stop-stealing-everything-
702763?hpt=hpbn8 no dia 03 de setembro de 2012
O que está ocorrendo na Ilha Boracay, nas Filipinas
