P16M potable water project completed in Region 12
32 million worth of community-based water system projects.[]
Bai Zorahayda Taha, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 12 director, said Friday the water systems were among the projects that were implemented in the region this year under the national government’s anti-poverty program Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS).
She said the new “community-owned water systems” were installed in 10 barangays in Senator Ninoy Aquino and Isulan towns in Sultan Kudarat; three in Kiamba and one in Malungon in Sarangani; and one in Libungan, North Cotabato.
Taha said the completion of the water system projects has put an end to the “decades of suffering of thousands families” due to the lack of potable water sources.
“Most of these families had to endure long walks over rough terrains and slopes just to get water. Some tried to dig wells but the water quality was usually poor and they run dry during summer season,” she said in a statement.
In Sultan Kudarat province, she said some 3,901 households are currently benefiting from the 10 water system projects worth P10.17 million that were installed in the area.
The villages that availed of the project were Langgal, Tinalon, Kuden, Tacupis and Lagubang in Senator Ninoy Aquino town; and Eday, Libertad, Sinapulan, Kudanding and Bual in Isulan town.[]
Taha said the water systems installed in barangays Maligang, Kapate and Kayupo in Kiamba town in Sarangani now serve 1,509 families while a similar project implemented in Barangay Alkikan in Malungon town presently benefits 120 families.
She said the four water system projects implemented in Sarangani cost a total of P5.35 million.
In Barangay Grebona in Libungan, North Cotabato, 167 families have been also benefiting from a water system project that costs P782,000.
Taha said they’re hoping that these projects will help uplift the lives of residents and usher in fresh opportunities for them.
“They now have more time to engage in income-generating activities and livelihood ventures,” the official said.
Kalahi-CIDSS, which is supported by the World Bank, forms part of the three-pronged anti-poverty convergence programs of the national government that are implemented by the DSWD.
Dubbed “Tatsulok,” the initiative includes the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps and Sustainable Livelihood Program.
Under the Kalahi-CIDSS, poor communities are capacitated to analyze their own problems, manage, plan, and implement their identified project to answer their pressing needs.
In Region 12, the project was able to help build various community infrastructure projects such as school buildings, bridges, health stations, water systems, day care centers, roads, post-harvest facilities, and other common services.
Region 12 comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)
