GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 1 Aug) – The World Bank has approved the release of a P2.6-million grant for the construction of a community-based flood control or protection project in a riverside community in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province.
Bai Zorahayda Taha, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 12 director, said Thursday the bank recently endorsed the funding and implementation of a proposed river embankment project in Barangay Dansuli in Isulan town through the national government’s anti-poverty program Kalahi-CIDSS.
Kalahi-CIDSS stands for Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, a World Bank-supported program implemented by the DSWD.
Taha said the project mainly involves the construction of a 500-linear meter river embankment structure along the banks of the critical Allah River in Barangay Dansuli in Isulan.
She said the construction of the river embankment was earlier proposed by local farmers and residents to address the perennial flooding in the area during the rainy season.
Taha said the flood protection project will benefit 866 households in Barangay Dansuli and nearby communities.
“Farmlands and communities in the area usually experience severe flooding during the rainy season due to the absence of protection structures along the river,” she said in a statement.
Portions of the Allah River traversing the village overflowed several times in the past years, displacing hundreds of families and destroying a significant value of agricultural crops and properties.
“We’re hoping that this project will eventually alleviate poverty in the community and save the lives of the people from the dangers of flooding,” Taha said.
The official said the flood protection project in Barangay Dansuli is the largest single community priority project that was approved for implementation by the World Bank this year within Region 12.
As a policy, she said all priority projects under the Kalahi program that are worth P2.5 million and above will need an approval from the World Bank instead of the DSWD central office for their funding and implementation.
Kalahi-CIDSS forms part of the three-pronged anti-poverty convergence programs of the national government.
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.
