Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Chile plans to limit immigration to Easter Island, heeding residents’ demands to stem a surge in population that is damaging the environment and straining water, electricity and garbage services in one of the world’s most isolated communities.

An Interior Ministry document, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News, proposes changes to the constitution so that island authorities can restrict the number of people who live on the outcrop of volcanic rock in the South Pacific.

An influx of people from mainland Chile to work in construction and tourism has boosted the number of inhabitants by almost 50 percent in the past seven years to 4,900, according to Carolina Hotu, the island’s governor. That’s causing water, power and waste services to break down, said Mayor Luz Zasso.

The collection and processing of garbage on the island “has already collapsed,” Zasso said in a Sept. 11 interview at her office in Hanga Roa, the island’s capital. “The island is telling the government we need to live on tourism, but help us with the business of sustainability.”

About 63,000 tourists visit Easter Island each year, said Zasso. More than 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) from Santiago it is about the size of Liechtenstein.

Named by Dutch sailors who landed there on Easter Day 1722, the island has been inhabited by the Polynesian Rapanui people for more than 1,000 years. They developed a culture centered on the carving and transportation of stone heads, known as moai, that dot the territory and weigh as much as 270 tons.

Rapanui Protests

Members of the Rapanui community blocked tourist flights last month as part of protests against the rise in immigration.

“There are 5,000 people living on the island and that causes a series of other ills,” said Rafael Barra, a Chilean jeweler who has lived on Easter Island for 40 years. “Water is expensive, electricity is expensive and we have a dump that is proving insoluble because there’s more rubbish all the time. It is an open wound.”

Deputy Interior Ministry Patricio Rosende told reporters yesterday he would meet island representatives on Sept. 28 to discuss the proposals. The restrictions would also apply to the three-island Juan Fernandez archipelago, about 420 miles west of the city of Valparaiso, according to government document.

From today, Chile will start vetting people flying to Easter Island as they depart from Santiago, Rosende said after meeting island representatives in the presidential palace.

“If we detect that someone has a criminal record, or is on the run from justice in Chile, we can control them at the airport and help prevent those people from coming,” Governor Hotu said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sebastian Boyd in Santiago at sboyd9@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 15, 2009 10:02 EDT