DAVAO CITY – Unsafe drinking water will soon be a
thing of the past as the local government of the Island Garden City of Samal
(IGaCos) in Davao del Norte has started installing clean and affordable potable
water system for the poorest of the poor in the area.
Dubbed
“Salin Tubig” or “Sapat at Ligtas na Tubig para sa lahat (Sufficient and Safe Water for All),”
the project aims to bring fresh water to at least 345 households in the village
of Aumbay, located in central part of the island, according to the local
officials.
Key officials of the Island Garden
City of Samal in Northern Davao gave briefing and orientation on project Salin
Tubig to media practitioners and civil society organizations of Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) who visited the island city on April 18.
Selected ARMM media and civil
society representatives were in Davao City for the seminar-workshop on
Rebuilding Alliances through Public Journalism conducted by the Center for
Community Journalism and Development (CCJD).
City administrator
Cleto Bravo Gales Jr. said the target beneficiaries are among the current 64
percent households in the village that have no access to water supply from
the IGaCos Water District.
“Some of the
beneficiaries are members of the indigenous people, particularly the Sama
ethnic group,” he said in an interview.
According to
the city administrator, IGaCos has an estimated 38,115 poor individuals based
on 2003 data from the National Statistics Office (NSO).
He added
that each barangay in the island city has its own barangay water system.
In its
effort to create the IGaCos Water District for better and safe drinking water
delivery in 1998, the city has encouraged the 46 barangays to turn-over their
local water system facilities to the water district.
However,
only 17 barangays have submitted themselves to the services of the water
district. He also said that not all barangays have good water source based on
the water testing conducted earlier, as two barangay water systems were said to
have been contaminated.
Jemelita Q.
Camaso, the city budget officer, said the P2-million water program is part of
the P26. 7-million grant for local poverty reduction program for 2012-2013,
which was drawn from the funds of the government’s major agencies.
She said
half of the funds for the safe water program have been downloaded to the city
in the first quarter of this year.
City
planning officer Mario S. Pacaldo said implementation has already started such
us land acquisition, survey and improvement of water sources, and preparing for
the construction of reservoir.
The entire
water system program will be completed until the end of this year.
For its
part, Jay Arr Orlanes, the general manager of the IGaCos Water District, said
they will give a special water rate for this particular project in the next
five years considering the economic status of the community.
However, the
rate will gradually increase from P80.00 per cubic meter (current rate of the
barangay water systems) to P115 per cubic meter, the city’s water district’s
regular rate per household.
Local
officials are optimistic that the poor households will greatly benefit from the
project especially the indigenous people of the island city. (FPG/DW/RVC/PIA9)